By Jack Elsom For Mailonline
Published: 11:56 GMT, 6 March 2019 | Updated: 11:57 GMT, 6 March 2019
View
comments
Stunning behind-the-scenes footage of a wildlife documentary shows a gang of very cheeky monkeys stealing the crew's cameras and scampering away to make a movie of their own.
The macaques also poke and prod at the equipment, press their faces up against the lenses and even try to grab things from the crew's hands.
And although the exasperated director jokes that 'this is what happens when you work with monkeys', the team are thrilled by the extraordinary close-up shots of the animals.
The video exclusively seen by MailOnline begins with some footage of the tan-coloured macaques basking among the ruins of an ancient temple in Polonnaruwa.
Scroll down for video
Selfie time: Behind-the-scenes footage shows a group of macaque monkeys playing with a film crew's cameras
But suddenly, a pair of big googly eyes pop up into view and stare straight down the lens while another monkey lurks nearby.
The couple of macaques then start fiddling with the camera before they set about detaching it from the rod it is rigged to.
The backdrop of the temple then starts to spin as the monkeys unscrew the camera and run away to a patch of forest where one climbs up a tree with the device still clasped in his hands.
It then drops the camera to the ground