A day at the zoo is supposed to mean adorable photos and cute animal encounters — not watching your iPhone disappear into a panda enclosure.
But that’s exactly what happened at a panda base in China when one unlucky visitor accidentally dropped their phone into the habitat. Instead of zookeepers quickly scooping it up, the resident panda decided the shiny gadget was his new favorite toy.
And he was not giving it back.
The mischievous panda has since been identified as Qingling, a 3-year-old living at the Dujiangyan Panda Base in Sichuan. Known for being playful — and just a little stubborn — Qingling fully leaned into the chaos once the phone landed in his space.
Video shared on TikTok shows zookeepers trying everything to retrieve the device. They used an extra-long grabber tool. They attempted gentle coaxing. They even tried bribery.
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Carrots were offered in what appeared to be a classic “trade you” maneuver.
Qingling calmly took the carrots with one paw… and kept the phone firmly gripped in the other.
At one point, he can be seen lounging, happily munching away while holding onto the iPhone like he just upgraded his tech. It’s unclear how long he had it, but one thing was obvious: he had zero intention of returning it.
The internet, of course, had a field day.
One commenter joked about accidentally FaceTiming a relative only to see a giant panda chewing carrots on the other end. Another imagined Qingling checking out Kung Fu Panda for research purposes. Someone else quipped that the panda was probably asking, “You got Roblox on this thing?”
Whether he was doom-scrolling, attempting a selfie, or just enjoying his new treasure, Qingling seemed perfectly content.