Heartbreaking moment monkey farewells friend in viral clip

This is the heartbreaking moment a grief-stricken monkey gave his human friend a final kiss at his funeral before needing to be dragged away.

This is the heartbreaking moment a grief-stricken monkey gave his human friend a final kiss at his funeral.

Peetambaram Rajan, 56, reportedly died last Monday after contracting a sudden illness at his forest-side home in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, The Sun reports.

But throughout his life he been known for feeding a wild grey langur every day with fruit and biscuits as the two formed a particularly close bond.

And this week, the animal said his final goodbye as mourners brought the monkey to the funeral service.

In the clip, which has since gone viral, the langur perches on the edge of Rajan’s open coffin before gently cupping his chin.

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Footage captured the heartbreaking moment a monkey says goodbye to his human friend. Picture: CEN/Australscope

The monkey then leans over before planting a kiss on the deceased’s head.

Eventually, mourners were forced to gently carry the distressed monkey away from the scene after he attempted to grab his friend’s hand, as if trying to lead him away.

The video was later posted online and touched thousands across the world.

One person wrote: “That man has earned the love, if there is a heaven for people, he is surely going there.”

Another said: “Respect. Very touching.”

And a third added: “Wow. Brought tears here. And people say animals are not able to feel as we do.”

The monkey kissed the forehead of 56-year-old Peetambaram Rajan at the funeral. Picture: CEN/Australscope

It comes just days after heartbreaking footage captured the moment a chimp said goodbye to a zookeeper for the last time in Nicaragua.

Video showed zoo head Eduardo Sacasa talking tenderly to 38-year-old Pipo as he explained that the state was set to take over of the zoo.

He later told local outlets that saying goodbye to the chimp was like losing a family member.

“From the day we met, we had good chemistry, and I gradually gained his affection and friendship,” he said.

“With great pain in my heart, with tears in my eyes, I only hope that just as we took care of him for 25 years, giving him a lot of affection, a lot of love, pampering him like a son.”

Chimpanzees are highly intelligent creatures and, like many other species of monkeys, can build remarkable bonds with human beings in their lives.

In one video, shared earlier this year, a dying chimp met her human best friend for the last time.

Mama, who had lived to the ripe old age of 59, was filmed greeting Jan van Hooff, embracing him as he visited her at her enclosure at a zoo in Arnhem in the Netherlands. Tragically the chimp died just a week after her farewell visit.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission