The bird was passive, had bloody diarrhea and a hemorrhage from the beak, the zoo communicated. Medical examination and x-ray revealed a foreign body in the stomach. The autopsy found the culprit to be a one-cent coin that caused the bird's body to shut down and resulted in a painful death.

Animals must often react quickly to catch potential pray, meaning that foreign objects can be swallowed before the specimen realizes its mistake.

The zoo said that hopefully this was a traffic accident and not someone who had purposefully thrown the coin into the enclosure.

Twenty-year-old Dendi was a popular attraction at Tallinn Zoo. She was born in the Alma-Ata Zoo and lived in Tallinn since late 2002. Her mate now finds himself alone.

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