XI'AN, China —  The handlers of a smoking chimpanzee in a zoo in northwest China are trying to get her to kick the habit.

The 26-year-old female chimpanzee (search) has been smoking for 15 years. Her mate died recently, which caused her to smoke even more.

Now, the chimp's keepers are worried about her health as a result of her intense smoking. So, they're trying to give her milk instead of cigarettes.

She started smoking years ago by picking up butts from tourists.

[At least two other smoking zoo chimps have been reported in the past year — Feili, a 13-year-old female in Zhengzhou in central China, and Charlie, a male in Bloemfontein, South Africa.]