A monkey in India paid one of the sweetest tributes to his farmer “friend” who used to feed him.
It was gathered that the monkey visited the farmer’s family home in the village of Gondhia in Uttar Pradesh, India, to pay his respects to his fallen friend on September 10.
Local media report that the monkey approached the remains of the farmer, Chandanlal Verma as he was laid to rest, lifted the covering over his face and stared deeply into his eyes.
Animal experts claim this behaviour could mean that the primate was convincing himself if his beloved companion was truly no more.
In the video clip of this really sweet and heavy moment, the monkey can be seen pressing his chest and arms into the ground as a way of paying his last respects, before joining the grieving family members and friends.
At one point, the monkey can also be seen putting his hand on a woman’s knee, perhaps in an attempt to comfort her, the Daily Star reported.
Sudhir Verma, a member of the family, said in his statement to the local news that the farmer would usually spend his days in the fields and keep an eye on his crops from a nearby hut, ensuring they were safe from hungry animals.
During his time at his hut, the farmer would share his food with the friendly primate every day.
It has been long known that monkeys and some other primates are capable of feeling certain complex emotions, just like humans. According to PBS, the emotional lives of monkeys “may share something in common with our own.”
When a member dies in a primate community, the others gather in silence around his body. PBS also mentions that the previous rivals of the fallen members “truly feel remorse,” and pay their last respects by touching the body of the fallen.
Discussing the topic of how monkeys deal with death, the publication notes, “Everyone is affected by death, but a monkey mother that has lost her infant seems especially hard-hit. In nearly all species of monkey, the mother will carry her child’s lifeless body around with her for days.”
According to PBS, while monkeys might not understand death in the same way humans do, “monkeys and apes do seem to share our tendency to have trouble accepting it.”
Daily Star reported that this incident in India is not the first time a monkey can be seen paying his respects to a human companion, as there had been a similar incident in India’s neighboring country of Sri Lanka.
Peetambaram Rajan, from Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, used to feed a wild grey langur monkey every day, giving him fruit and biscuits. When Rajan passed away, the grieving family and friends were surprised to see the monkey paying his respects. The monkey was reportedly filmed gazing at Rajan as he lay in his coffin before leaning in to hug him, and even planting a kiss on his fallen friend’s cheek.