Baboons record videos with phone dropped by visitor at Dutch zoo

Videos of baboons monkeying around with the camera of a mobile phone have been getting attention on TikTok. The animals recorded themselves after a visitor at a zoo in the Netherlands accidentally dropped their phone in their enclosure.

Mobile phone falls into hands of baboons at Dutch zoo

While enjoying a visit to the Wildlands Zoo in Emmen on Ascension Day, Shahra Bahloul lost her mobile phone to baboons. She was standing at the monkey enclosure when she was bumped and her phone “flew right through the fence”. "The phone was immediately surrounded by the baboons," Bahloul told RTL Nieuws.

She found a worker at the zoo to ask for help getting her phone back, but unfortunately, they were unable to retrieve it straight away and would try to get it back later. "A zookeeper explained that if they took the phone to the night enclosure, it would be lost," Bahloul said.

Dutch baboons become TikTok stars

When Bahloul had returned home, she logged into her iCloud account and came across a fun little surprise. The baboons had recorded no less than seven videos on her iPhone. "They filmed the ground, but also themselves. In one shot, the three of them are standing around the phone."

With such unique footage, she just had to share it. Bahloul posted footage of the baboons on TikTok where it has become quite popular, raking in over 200.000 views. 

Bahloul eventually did get her phone back from the zoo, but the device unfortunately did not survive the activities of the baboons and no longer works. "I think it's really funny, but I would have preferred my phone not to have fallen into the enclosure. I was also afraid a monkey would eat a piece, you never know what will happen."