In an unusual incident on Kuvempu Road, Shivamogga, a monkey grabbed a young woman’s mobile phone and interacted with it for nearly an hour, imitating human gestures before trading it for a banana.

The incident took place on Wednesday when the woman, employed as a lab technician at Nanjappa Hospital, had momentarily placed her phone near an open window. Seizing the chance, the monkey snatched the gadget and scrambled up a nearby tree.

Bystanders were left stunned as the primate began to mimic human actions. It cradled the phone close to its chest, peered at the screen with curiosity, and even brought it to its ear, mimicking a phone call as if it were conversing.

As the monkey held onto the device tightly, passersby tried various tactics to coax it down. They dialed the phone repeatedly and waved bananas from below, but the creature remained stubborn.

Eventually, tempted by a banana placed strategically on the hospital rooftop, the monkey descended. Local youth, trying to retrieve the phone, burst firecrackers to scare it away. Startled, the monkey dropped the mobile, snatched the banana, and vanished from the scene.

The phone was successfully recovered, though it bore minor damage from its unexpected jungle escapade. The spectacle drew a crowd and left many amused by the animal’s surprisingly human-like behavior.