A man who recently lost his iPhone would've never guessed that it was a case of monkey business.
When Zackrydz Rodzi wasn't able to find his phone after searching his entire house in Johor, Malaysia, he thought someone had stolen it while he was sleeping on Friday (Sept 11) night.
However, there were no signs of a break-in. And if his phone was stolen, the 20-year-old student mused, "Why would the thief leave the casing under the bed and take off with the phone?"
Zackrydz continued with his search, using the Find My iPhone app (but it was offline) and calling his phone in the hope of hearing it ring.
His efforts were rewarded the next day after he heard a ringtone coming from a jungle near his house.
He found his muddied phone lying beneath a palm tree.
Curious what had happened to the phone, Zackrydz opened the camera roll and found the 'culprit' — a monkey — staring right back at him.
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Amused by what he discovered, he shared the images in a Twitter thread on Sunday (Sept 13).
It is unclear how the monkey had gotten its hands on the phone, but it is quite likely to have taken the photos while fiddling with the device.
Besides displaying a keen eye for photography in some shots of jungle foliage, the monkey also unwittingly filmed itself trying to eat the phone.
"I don't know there was a monkey living in my housing area but damn you monkey, you've made my life miserable for the past couple of days," he said.
Zackrydz also attempted to lure the 'thief' with another phone but it didn't turn up.
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Apparently, this is not the first time the mischievous primate has done this, as he later learnt that it had snitched his neighbours' mobile phones previously.
Hopefully, this will not be the start of another legal tussle over image copyright.
In 2011, a monkey in Indonesia snapped a selfie on a wildlife photographer's camera. With the macaque sporting a broad grin on its face, the photo soon became an internet sensation.
However, animal rights group PETA filed a suit on behalf of the monkey, accusing the photographer of copyright infringement.
Seven years later, a US court ruled that the macaque did not own the copyright to the image.
lamminlee@asiaone.com