The Beijing Zoo said a golden monkey there suddenly died over the recent Labor Day holiday, while denying that the animal's death had anything to do with food visitors had fed it, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday.

Quan Quan, a 14-year-old golden monkey, which would roughly be in the same stage of its lifecycle as a 40-year-old human being, died of heart failure on April 29, the report said.

The golden monkey is given first-class State protection in China.

Before the zoo announced the animal's death to public, a micro blog had been spreading rumors that the monkey had died from eating poisonous food given to it by visitors. The claims elicited concerns from many netizens, according to the report.

The zoo released a statement on Wednesday saying it had examined the food Quan Quan ate before dying and found no evidence that the death was related to what visitors had given the monkey. It said the cause of the death will be further investigated.

A zoo officer said it is hard to prevent visitors from feeding animals. Signs around the deceased monkey's dwelling warned them of the dangers of doing so, the report said.

A golden monkey that lived with Quan Quan was also reported to have an upset stomach but is now feeling better, the report added.