A rather large pig stopped traffic in Christchurch on Sunday after leaving his owner behind to get to the other side of the road.

Pumba was caught on camera walking along Wakefield Ave in Sumner, when he took it upon himself to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing. Motorists stopped to let him safely reach the other side.

The footage was captured by Sumner resident Madeleine Bateman who told the NZ Herald she was having a coffee with her partner when the pig appeared at the crossing.

“My partner was like, ‘Maddie, Pumba’s got an audience today’,” she told the Herald.

She said the pig’s owner regularly takes Pumba on walks around Sumner.

“It was funny ... the owners were like, ‘come here, come here’, and he just was like, ‘no, I’m going home’.”

Bateman told the Herald the pig often attracts attention during his outings.

“Lots of people in Christchurch know about Pumba, but I just so happened to catch him going across the pedestrian crossing.”

Bateman shared the footage on the couple’s home-renovation and lifestyle Instagram account, Get Hammered.