A rare hoolock gibbon suddenly died at the municipal zoo in Chongqing because the creature was fed a coin by tourists.

The gibbon, just 12 years old, was dissected after death. Experts found the coin stuck in the animal's cecum had led to organ inflammation and the gibbon's death.

During the past week, the zoo also suffered the loss of a goat that ate a plastic bag.

The two unnatural deaths led the zoo to appeal to visitors not to feed animals.

The hoolock gibbon is an endangered species, and only about 200 remain in Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, Chongqing Evening News reports.

(China Daily April 13, 2005)