Chimpanzee welcomes visitor with open arms after abandoned alone on island for years (3)

Eleven died within months after the relocation and the nine surviving chimps were moved once again.

Disease and hunger soon left only Ponso, his mate and their two children standing.

But at the end of 2013 they died within days of each other, and Ponso was now completely alone.

Germain, who had been caring for the entire family, said Ponso helped bury them.

Ponso's only companionship is Germain (pictured), a villager who brings him banana and bread every so often as the there is no source of natural food on the island

Germain helped Ponso's entire family, and helped him bury them when they died within days of each other

Although Ponso had long been abandoned, the New York Blood Center was still caring for the 66 chimpanzees long after the testing program ended in 2005.

But in May the NYBC announced it would be withdrawing all support for the chimps because of a breakdown in discussions with the Liberian government, according to The New York Times.

A released statement said there was conflict regarding the government's own responsibilities for the chimpanzees, with the NYBC noting they had 'incurred millions of dollars of costs' for their care.

NYBC also claimed it 'never had any obligation to care for the chimps, contractual or otherwise'.