I went to college with his daughter. On Dad’s weekend, he showed up with some critters and did his dog-and-pony show with not dogs and ponies, but more like lions, tigers and bears. I got to pet a cougar. I like Jack Hanna, although he does come across a bit cluelessly. His animal handlers generally know wtf they are doing; he’s just like the circus ringmaster or the emcee. Sort of an animal DJ. He doesn’t present himself as an animal expert, he presents himself as the PR face for his zoo. The clueless act is supposed to make you think he’s all down-home and relatable. He may not know jack* about animals, but he’s brilliant at marketing the Columbus Zoo.
[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
In 1973, a three-year-old boy was mauled by a lion at Hanna’s farm and lost his arm.
[/QUOTE]
I’m wondering if the OP is the one-armed man, doomed to forever seek revenge on Jack Hanna.
The boy losing his arm is a Knoxville legend. We had a house that was built on his family’s property. When we would tell people where we lived, we’d always hear the story of the kid losing his arm.
Jack Hanna cannot legally come within 50 yards of a female wallabee or any gender of hedgehog, and in parts of South America he is a semi-mythological figure parents use to frighten their children into good behavior. By the terms of a lawsuit settlement his body is to be delivered to the hyenas at the National Zoo before his body temperature is below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
I’m a frequent visitor of the Columbus Zoo, so Jack Hanna is my hero. I don’t know how much he does or doesn’t know about animals, but his contributions were apparently appreciated when those lions and tigers and other wild animals were on the loose in central Ohio several months ago.