Zookeeper hospitalized after being 'nipped' by orangutan, Tampa zoo says
The primate nipped the tip of the staff member's middle finger.
A zookeeper at a Florida zoo has been hospitalized after he was "nipped" by an orangutan Wednesday morning.
The worker, a member of ZooTampa's animal care staff, was giving the female orangutan its daily medication and vitamins when the primate "nipped the tip of the keeper's middle finger," according to a statement released by the zoo.
![PHOTO: Orangutans play at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/zoo-tampa-orangutan-02-ap-jef-190410_hpEmbed_23x15_992.jpg)
The incident occurred in the night house shortly before 9 a.m., before the zoo was opened to visitors. The zoo described the orangutan, who was not injured, as "not aggressive."
The keeper was taken to the hospital for treatment.
![PHOTO: Orangutans play at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/zoo-tampa-orangutan-01-ap-jef-190410_hpMain_4x3_992.jpg)
"The staff member appears to be doing well and recovering from his wound," the statement read.
Additional details were not immediately available.
ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report.