1. Jack Bushnell Hanna was born on January 2,1947 and is an American retired zookeeper and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
27 Facts About Jack Hanna
1. 2.
Jack Hanna grew up on his family's farm and volunteered for the family veterinarian, Dr Roberts, when he was 11.
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Jack Hanna attended The Kiski School, an all-boys boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, for high school, graduating in 1965.
4.
Jack Hanna settled a later lawsuit out of court, shut down the petting zoo, and moved his family to Florida.
5.
From 1973 to 1975, Jack Hanna worked for a wildlife adventure company and directed the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
6.
Jack Hanna recovered by the age of six, although she needed to have a brain tumor removed later in life.
7.
Jack Hanna initially struck many as a "zealous" zoo director, often traveling around the zoo grounds after closing to personally pick up trash.
8.
Jack Hanna 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.
9.
From 1981 to 1983, Jack Hanna hosted a local television program, "Jack Hanna's Ark", which aired on the local CBS affiliate in Columbus, WBNS.
10.
Jack Hanna was named director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in 1992.
11.
Jack Hanna published his autobiography, Monkeys on the Interstate, in 1989.
12.
Jack Hanna has published many books for children as well.
13.
Jack Hanna occasionally contributed 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 The Hollywood Squares.
14.
On September 25,2003, Jack Hanna made a special guest appearance on an episode of Blue's Clues.
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Jack Hanna was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People magazine in 1996.
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Jack Hanna 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.
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Jack Hanna was granted honorary doctorates from Muskingum University, Otterbein College, Capital University, and Ohio University.
18.
On October 19,2011, Jack Hanna assisted Ohio police in tracking down several escaped exotic animals near Zanesville, Ohio.
19.
Jack Hanna provided police assistance with expertise in tracking down the animals, which included lions, leopards, wolves, primates, bears, and eighteen tigers.
20.
In May 2018 at the Los Angeles Zoo's annual Beastly Ball, Jack Hanna received the Tom Mankiewicz Leadership Award for his work in conservation.
21.
In June 2020, Jack Hanna announced his retirement from the Columbus Zoo effective at the end of the year.
22.
Jack Hanna criticized the killing of the healthy eighteen-month-old giraffe Marius in Copenhagen Zoo, which was killed rather than offered for adoption after being classified as genetically over-represented in zoo breeding programs.
23.
Jack Hanna said this would not happen in an American zoo.
24.
Jack Hanna said he was willing to provide refuge including transport for this giraffe.
25.
Jack Hanna retired from public life in 2021, and he and his wife, Suzi, moved to Montana.
26.
Jack Hanna's daughters stated that "his condition has progressed much faster in the last few months than any of us could have anticipated".
27.
The documentary directly connected Jack Hanna to exploiting immunocompromised animal cubs, including snow leopards, with some of the cubs he used dying at early ages or disappearing from record, despite Jack Hanna's assurances that the cats were healthy and safe.