The male, called Ambam, is part of a group of endangered Western lowland gorillas at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, Kent.

His keeper Phil Ridges said: "His father Bitam used to display the same behaviour if he had handfuls of food to carry.

"Ambam also has a sister, Tamba, and a half-sister who also sometimes stand and walk in the same way.

"All gorillas can do it to some extent but we haven't got any who do it like Ambam. He's quite a celebrity at the park.

"We think he might use it to get a height advantage to look over the wall when keepers come to feed him and standing up can also help him in looking for food generally."

The footage was filmed by animal researcher Johanna Watson for a project on the way great apes move around.

Almost 200,000 people have viewed the clip on YouTube in just a few days.

Ambam was born at Port Lympne's sister park, Howletts, in 1990.