A man dressed in a gorilla suit has been shot with a tranquiliser dart by a panicked vet who thought a real ape was on the loose in Tenerife.

The unlucky zoo attendant had been charged with dressing up as a gorilla for an escape drill and apparently played his part a little too well on Monday.

In an suspected communication failure, police were called to the Loro Parque theme park in Puerto de la Cruz to reports of an escaped gorilla.

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The 35-year-old man was running around in the suit as part of the planned training exercise at the time and a confused vet reportedly shot him in the leg with enough sedative to knock out a 200kg animal.

According to La Opinion de Tenerife, the 35-year-old suffered an allergic reaction to the drug and was taken to hospital in a serious condition and given an antidote.

Health and safety authorities are investigating the accident and the tranquiliser gun and sedative have been confiscated by police.

As well as gorillas, the theme park’s zoo includes alligators, killer whales, tigers and chimpanzees.