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Zookeeper hospitalized after being 'nipped' by orangutan, Tampa zoo says

5:14
News headlines today: April 10, 2019
Ron Williams/AP, FILE
ByJulia Jacobo
April 10, 2019, 6:20 PM

A zookeeper at a Florida zoo has been hospitalized after he was "nipped" by an orangutan Wednesday morning.

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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.

Orangutans play at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.
Ron Williams/AP, FILE

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."

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The keeper was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Orangutans play at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.
Ron Williams/AP, FILE

"The staff member appears to be doing well and recovering from his wound," the statement read.

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Additional details were not immediately available.

ABC News' Rachel Katz contributed to this report.

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