Adelaide Zoo said the student had been filming at the giant panda enclosure and then dropped the phone.
“They made the unwise decision to attempt to retrieve the phone and entered into the giant panda enclosure,” Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted said.
Bensted said staff switched off the hot wire that circles the enclosure before using a ladder to retrieve the student and phone.
The student escaped without injury, only reporting some tingling in the fingers from touching the hot wire.
Thankfully the giant panda, Wang Wang, wasn’t hanging around at the time.
“I think Wang Wang slept through all the excitement,” Bensted said.
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Bensted said this is the first incident of its kind since the zoo opened in 2009 but even if Wang Wang had been awake, the student wouldn’t have been at risk.
“Giant pandas are not aggressive animals, they are large and they are bears so they have large teeth and large claws but their very nature is not aggressive,” she said.
However, she emphasised anyone visiting the zoo should not enter the enclosures.
The zoo will review its safety procedures after the incident.
“Both Giant Pandas are safe and well and the Bamboo Forest was reopened to visitors 30 minutes after the incident,” the zoo said.
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