HEARTBREAKING footage has emerged of a dying chimpanzee overcome with emotion as she says goodbye to an old human friend for the last time.

Mama, a former matriarch of a colony of chimps at Royal Burgers Zoo in Holland, was on her last legs when she was paid a visit from professor Jan van Hooff who she first met in 1972.

The 59-year-old ape, who had been unresponsive and curled up in a ball, reacted with pure joy after recognising the professor.

She appeared to smile and screech with happiness as she touches his face, holds the back of his neck and brings his head down to hers.

Sadly, she passed away just a week after the emotional visit in April last year.

Mama was born in the wild back in 1957 and was the oldest chimp at the zoo at the time of her death.

Mama was famed for her dominant nature and was described as the “grand lady” of the colony.

Some behavioural experts who have studied chimps say the animals also mourn like humans.

Dr James Anderson, of the University of Stirling, in Scotland, told The Sun: “We found several similarities between the chimpanzees’ behaviour toward the dying female and their behaviour after her death, and reactions of humans faced with the demise of an elderly relative.”

After Mama’s death, behavioural scientist Frans de Waal released a statement saying: “Mama was the ‘grand lady’ of the chimpanzee colony. That was the case when I worked there in the seventies, but also when she got older and had difficulty walking it remained so.

“She had an exceptionally strong and dominant personality, so that no man who wanted to come to power could do so around her. She also brought consolation when there were tensions and mediated conflicts.

“She will be sorely missed ... I have rarely seen such an admirable character in both humans and apes.”