Last week, officials at the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, performed an emergency procedure on Thibodaux, a 36-year-old alligator, to extract numerous coins from its stomach.

A total of 70 metal coins were discovered inside the alligator during the operation.

“A plastic pipe was placed to protect his mouth and safely pass the tools used to access the coins, such as a camera that helped us guide the retrieval of these objects,” veterinarian Christina Ploog said in a statement from the zoo, CNN reported.

The coins were detected during a regular examination of the animal, and all of them were successfully extracted. Ploog speculates that visitors likely tossed the coins into the animal’s habitat.

“Guests should not throw coins into any bodies of water at the Zoo,” the facility said in a statement.

Written by B.C. Begley