This is the hilarious moment a monkey curiously tries to study a smartphone that a zoogoer had accidentally dropped inside their enclosure.

Footage shows the baffled macaque turning and tossing the device after it fell from a girl's hands while visiting the Taiyuan Zoo, in Shanxi Province, northern China, on November 10.

In the video, the primate is seen attempting to bite through the phone, which caused its protective mask to come off.

Other monkeys then gathered around as the macaque kept trying to figure out what the strange object was after finding out it was inedible.

It turned it around several times and even sniffed the plastic casing, but could not find any use for it. Shortly afterwards, it reportedly became bored and tossed it aside.

Meanwhile, a keeper had entered the enclosure and reportedly retrieved the girl's phone. Its owner later said the phone and its screen were luckily intact.