The environmentalists had set up a camera to record a message for a recent campaign, but captured something entirely different after a curious marmot interrupted proceedings.

Greenpeace had set up a GoPro camera in Montana’s spectacular Glacier National Park, USA, to shoot a timelapse of its incredible landscape in order to raise awareness on the effect of global warming on glaciers.

Things were all going to plan until this inquisitive bundle of fur decided the camera was much more interesting than the gorgeous backdrop being filmed, and bounded uphill to check it out. After giving the GoPro a good clean with its wet tongue, the marmot bowled the camera over, thus ending Greenpeace’s grand plans of an environmental message.

On the bright side, Greenpeace said the marmot had given "the best photobomb in Greenpeace history" and decided to use the message to promote a different campaign altogether.

An online campaigner for Greenpeace, Dawn Bickett, said: "Though we didn’t capture the timelapse video of Glacier National Park that we intended to, we captured something much cooler… Marmot Love.

“This marmot took a minute out of its busy day to show us some love. It’s time for us to do the same. Global warming is shrinking marmot habitat — alpine tundra. Help protect his home from climate change."

Alpine tundra is land where there is no vegetation because the ground is always frozen. This is shrinking as more and more trees grow higher up the mountain.

It illustrates part of the Greenpeace campaign to ‘keep our coal in the ground,’ bringing attention to national park land that is being auctioned off for coal mining in the US. Coal mining is expanding at a rapid rate, particularly in Montana.

SMH