Jack Hanna

In my opinion this is a great book. I liked the language in the book because it was very descriptive and detailed when talking about all of the different animals. I also liked that the story was told by going through a zoo-keepers work day. The reader gets to not only find out about the different zoo animals, but also what it is like to take care of them. Another reason I liked this book was because it had real life pictures for the illustrations. This book discussed different zoo animals along with the zoo keeps role in taking care of them.… (mere)

An update of Jack Hanna's previous memoirs, Monkeys on the Interstate, this volume tells about his early experiences which always involved a lot of animals at hand, taking over at the Columbus Zoo, his experiences on TV shows including the David Letterman appearances, as well as two TV series of his own, his family, and his encounters with some remarkable people in Rwanda and elsewhere, the Congo, and elsewhere. There's the guy with the houseful of snakes, many venomous, that the cops asked him to help with, there's the Rwandan Hutu who had his arms cut off by fellow Hutus and yet started an orphanage to help survivors of the Tutsi genocide, his wife's engagement ring which was eaten by a tiger and passed long to an elephant, and, of course, the monkeys on the interstate, not to speak of the elephants in the trailer. Excellent book, lots of great anecdotes about the animals he's encountered, with even more photos and two color photo inserts.… (mere)

This 1989 book covers the career of zoo director Jack Hanna up to that time, including his early ambition to have his own zoo, his adventures with various animals in his charge, his appearances on the Letterman show, and the safaris he led to Africa. Filled with colorful, touching anecdotes, including some that will have you rolling on the floor, the book is accompanied by plenty of black and white photos and a couple color photo inserts with pictures of twin gorilla babies, baby cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, camels, and more. If this book has not been updated since publication...and I haven't checked yet...it should be because I'd like to find out if the Columbus Zoo ever got its panda visit and how things turned out for the zoo in the nearly two decades since this came out. But this book does stand alone...the anecdotes and, regrettably, the dire environmental message, stand alone.… (mere)