KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — An orang utan that returned a zoo visitor's slippers in China in exchange for popcorn has gained wide attention from social media users.

The incident took place on July 31 when a tourist visiting a zoo in Weihai, Shandong province dropped a slipper into the orang utan's enclosure, Global Times reported.

Initially thinking the dropped slipper was food, the orang utan took a whiff of the item.

As the item smelled different from the food it normally ate such as fruits, eggs and meat, the orang utan decided to hold on to it instead.

In the meantime, the keeper offered the orang utan popcorn bought by the visitor.

After seeing the food and communication from the keeper, the orang utan threw the slippers back.

The entire encounter, which took less than three minutes, won praises from social media users after the clip was shared online.