A cute baby koala has been captured on camera climbing up the leg of an American tourist as it tried to find its mother.

The joey, thought to be female, is seen running towards two tourists before climbing up the man's leg and up into his arms at Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

The man holds the animal close while trying to search in the nearby trees for any sight of the mum.

The joey, thought to be female, is seen running towards two tourists (pictured) before climbing up the man's leg and up into his arms

A cute baby koala is captured on camera climbing up the leg of an American tourist to try to get him to help find its mum

The adorable animal climbs up the man's jeans in a rare encounter

The koala climbs the man's leg as it would a tree, using its claws to grip

The American holds the animals close to him while they search for her mum

The American can be heard in the film clip saying 'hey little guy' as the koala approaches before whispering 'oh my gosh' as he quietly watches her climb his leg.

He remains calm and scoops her into his arms as his partner films the amazing encounter.

The pair then ask 'where's mum?' as they look for her before spotting her at the top of a tree.

The joey's mother is spotted climbing down a tree to be reunited with her daughter

The mother and daughter are finally reunited as she climbs on her mum's back and appears to give her a kiss

The baby koala can be seen climbing onto her mothers back as they happily play

He then puts her down hoping she'll run off to mum, but she keeps trying to climb back up his leg.

The determined baby has to be pushed in her mum's direction as the tourists back away from the area.