Monkeys are usually seen running from dogs, but in Panchhari, Khagrachhari, the opposite has happened: a monkey and a dog have put aside their natural hostility and become friends. The pair have become the talk of Panchhari's green hills.

Visitors come every day to Jharnatila on the Panchhari-Matiranga road to see the unusual friendship, and people of all ages are charmed by the bond between them.

According to local sources, Md Harun-or-Rashid looks after a garden belonging to Rezaul Karim and Abdul Khaleque at Jharnatila, on the border between Panchhari and Matiranga upazilas. His pet black dog guards the garden.

Six or seven months ago he found a baby monkey lying in the garden, brought it home, and the whole household nursed it back to health. Since then the monkey has been one of the family.

Over time the monkey grew close to the black dog. The pair also share the home with 20 to 25 domestic chickens.

Family members Jewel and Sohel said the monkey, the dog and the chickens roam the whole house together all day, sharing biscuits, rice and other food.

Harun-or-Rashid said he had never seen such a friendship between a dog and a monkey. The bond that had grown in the six or seven months since the monkey was brought home, he said, outdid even friendship between people.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.