This is the heartbreaking moment a baby monkey suckles milk from its dying mother - after she was killed protecting the infant in a fall from a building.

The primate is believed to have shielded her youngster which was wrapped around her body when she plunged from a rooftop in Lopburi, central Thailand last Friday (21/06).

She hit the ground on her side - suffering a fatal head injury but protecting the baby from the impact of the fall while it clung to her front.

Locals believe the mother and child were jumping across a rooftop when they were knocked over in a confrontation with other wild monkeys causing them to fall from a three-storey building.

Residents called the rescue foundation after noticing the female bleeding on the ground with the female infant still clinging to her.

The baby monkey, believed to be around a week old, was still suckling her bosom after being taken to the local vets where she was laid on a silver table and pronounced dead.

Passerby Supaphon Rienprayoon, who witnessed the heartbreaking incident, said: “The mother hugged her newborn tightly in her chest to protect her. She didn’t let go of her even though she was badly injured.”

Rescuers arrived in the afternoon but the mother had died before they had chance to save her. They tried to remove the baby but she continued latching on to her breast.

The team then had to carry both of them to the animal hospital, where a veterinarian finally put the infant into a cage and fed her with bottle milk.

Juthamas Supanam, a female vet from Help Poor Monkey Organization, later brought the orphan to live naturally with others and named her ‘Wan-Put’.

Speaking yesterday (25/06), Juthamas said: “We have Wan-Put for five days now and she’s not crying for her mother anymore. She’s doing better and also getting along well another monkey, who was found without a parent.

“We’ll take Wan-Put back to her group of wild monkeys as soon as she’s fully recovered. Some senior monkeys will take care of her and let her join the group. I’m sure she will be loved by her new family.”