Jack Hanna

Early life

Jack Hanna was born in Arlington, Texas to a Lebanese American family. He grew up on his father's farm outside Knoxville, and volunteered for the family veterinarian, Dr. Roberts, when he was 11. He attended The Kiski School, an all-boys boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, for high school, graduating in 1965. He majored in business and political science at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, where he got in trouble for keeping ducks in his dorm room and a donkey in a shed behind his fraternity house (The M.A.C.E. Club). In his senior year, Hanna married Suzi, a cheerleader at Muskingum, and graduated in 1968.

Career

Although unable to secure zoning as a zoo for his father's farm, Hanna and Suzi opened a pet shop and petting zoo. In 1973, a three-year-old boy was mauled by a lion at Hanna's farm and lost his arm. Hanna settled the subsequent lawsuit out of court, shut down the petting zoo, and moved his family to Florida.

He worked for a wildlife adventure company and directed the small Sanford Zoo and Central Florida Zoo from 1973 to 1975. When he was offered the position at the Columbus Zoo in 1978, one of the reasons he accepted was because he believed the Children's Hospital in Columbus had the best treatment available for his daughter Julie's leukemia. She recovered by the age of six, although she needed to have a brain tumor removed later in life.

At the time he became the zoo's director, the grounds of the zoo were unkempt and the facilities run down. Hanna initially struck many as a "zealous" zoo director, often traveling around the zoo grounds after closing to personally pick up trash. He also realized the importance of increasing the profile of the Columbus Zoo in central Ohio to get more public support and funding, and the "everyman"-seeming Hanna proved to be very well-suited to public relations for the zoo. From 1981-83, Hanna hosted a local television program, "Hanna's Ark", which aired on the local CBS affiliate in Columbus, WBNS. Hanna's live animal demonstrations on Good Morning America and both of David Letterman's talk show incarnations brought national attention to the Columbus Zoo as well as to Hanna himself. Over the course of Hanna's tenure as director, the zoo made the transition from cage-like enclosures to habitat environments, and the grounds were significantly expanded. The annual attendance of the Columbus Zoo increased by over 400% during this time. Hanna was named Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in 1992.

Hanna published his autobiography, Monkeys on the Interstate, in 1989. He has published many books for children as well. He has been the host of the syndicated television shows Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures (1993-2008), Jack Hanna's Into the Wild since 2007 and Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown since 2011. Hanna also occasionally contributes commentary as an animal expert on various local and national news programs, and has done guest spots on other shows such as Larry King Live, Nancy Grace, Maury, and Hollywood Squares. On September 25, 2003, Jack made a special guest appearance on an episode of Blue’s Clues (season 5, episode 35, "Animals in Our House?"). He was also named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People magazine in 1996. Hanna also appeared in Neal McCoy's 2005 music video for "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" with a hyacinth macaw, a sloth and an albino burmese python. Hanna, along with Emmy-award winning musician Mark Frye, released an album through Virgin Records in 1996 entitled Jack Hanna's World.

Hanna and his wife, Suzi, have three daughters: Kathaleen, Suzanne, and Julie. He spends much of his time at his home in Bigfork, Montana, where he expects to retire soon. He currently attends New Hope Church. He was granted honorary doctorates from Muskingum University, Otterbein College, Capital University, and The Ohio State University.

On October 19, 2011, Hanna assisted Ohio police in tracking down several escaped exotic animals near Zanesville, Ohio. The animals belonged to a private collector, and were released by the owner prior to his committing suicide the same day. Hanna provided police assistance with expertise in tracking down the animals, which included lions, leopards, wolves, primates, bears and eighteen tigers. Forty-nine animals were killed by the local police. The animals confirmed to be dead were eighteen tigers, six black bears, two grizzly bears, two wolves, one macaque monkey, one baboon, three mountain lions, nine male lions, and eight lionesses. Three leopards, one grizzly bear, and two monkeys were left caged inside Thompson's home. These animals were tranquilized and sent to the Columbus Zoo. One of the surviving leopards was subsequently injured in an accident at the zoo and was euthanized. One monkey was eaten by a tiger, and a wolf was killed after being hit by a car.

Critic of giraffe zoo euthanized

Jack Hanna criticized the euthanasing of the giraffe Marius in Copenhagen Zoo, and said this would not happen in an American zoo. Soon after, he raised money to prevent a separate giraffe culling in Jyllands Park Zoo, which is also in Denmark. Jack Hanna claimed he was willing to provide refuge including transport for this giraffe. The Jyllands Park Zoo later stated that this giraffe will no longer be put down to make room for a female giraffe, as was a hypothesized outcome.