JACK HANNA & COLUMBUS ZOO MILESTONES Jack Hanna has transformed the Zoo and our understanding of animals. The charismatic man in khaki has become TV’s wildlife expert and an advocate for education and conservation globally. 1947 John “Jack” Hanna was born in Knoxville, TN. 1956 On December 22, 1956 the Zoo made history when Colo, the first gorilla born into human care, came into the world. She was even featured in LIFE magazine! Though Jack was only 9 years old at the time – Colo’s birth foreshadowed our Zoo’s unwavering commitment to great apes. Colo passed away at the age of 60—setting the record for the oldest gorilla living in a zoo! 1968 Jack has always loved animals – he even brought his donkey with him to Muskingum College and it lived in the fraternity house! Jack also met his wife of 50+ years, Suzi, while at Muskingum and was married in 1968. Little did Jack and Suzi know that their life’s work would bring them right back to the Zanesville area decades later. Today The Wilds, a 10,000 acre wildlife and conservation park, is one of their favorite places on Earth! 1978 The Hanna family started calling central Ohio home in 1978. Columbus was a great fit for the Hannas – it had an impressive Children’s Hospital to treat their youngest daughter’s leukemia and the perfect zoo director position for Jack. He had dreams of transforming the Columbus Zoo into the #1 zoo in the US, but knew he had a long way to go since at that time the Zoo was part of the city’s Sewers & Drains Department! 1979 When Jack arrived in central Ohio, the Zoo’s lowland gorillas had never been outdoors. In the late 70s this was the normal practice, but the Zoo staff knew these animals deserved much better. In 1979, thanks to support from a prominent local philanthropist, the gorillas’ habitat was transformed and it represented a turning point for the Zoo – the community and other zoos took notice! Jack welcomed Betty White, an animal lover and zoo enthusiast, to central Ohio. To this day, Betty remains a dear friend of the Hanna family. This celebrity visit was the first of many more to come! 1980 In the early 80s every gorilla birth was a celebration! Jack was a tireless advocate for finding the best ways to care for these babies – mother raised, in the skilled hands of our gorilla care experts, and even pioneering a gorilla surrogacy program by finding adoptive parents within the zoo’s gorilla family. He even brought in the La Leche League to model breastfeeding for our gorilla moms! 1981 Jack teamed up with his oldest daughter to do his first animal TV series, Hanna’s Ark. The show aired locally for two years and foreshadowed Jack’s future on TV. 1983 Jack was invited to appear on Good Morning America following the birth of baby twin gorillas at the Columbus Zoo – the first twin gorillas born in the western hemisphere. He and the Zoo team eagerly accepted the invitation knowing that this was a great opportunity to educate people across the nation about animals. Jack has been a regular guest and wildlife correspondent ever since. 1984 1985 The Zoo participated in a national program that was partially responsible for removing the bald eagle from the endangered species list - 21 eaglets were born at the Zoo as part of the program and 20 were released back into the wild! Jack appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman for the first time. Dave and Jack “hit it off” and Jack appeared over 100 times before Dave’s retirement in 2015. From day one, Jack knew that the community had to embrace the Zoo for it to succeed. We needed to be a treasured community asset and a place where families could make memories together while learning about the world’s amazing creatures. In 1985 the Franklin County voters in Ohio passed a levy to support their Zoo – the community’s leaders and residents believed in the Zoo’s vision and have generously funded its expansion ever since. 1988 1991 Jack started the beloved central Ohio holiday tradition, Wildlights at the Zoo! In its first year Wildlights featured 120,000 glowing lights…and today there are more than 3,000,000 shimmering LED lights and nearly 350,000 guests enjoying the celebration of the holiday season annually. In 1993 Jack wanted to jazz up Wildlights and installed an ice rink at the Zoo. For the rink’s grand opening he invited Olympian Peggy Fleming to take a spin on the ice – boy, that was a night to remember! With Jack’s encouragement and blessing, a group of volunteers and zookeepers founded Partners In Conservation (PIC), a grassroots humanitarian and wildlife conservation organization. Seven years prior, Jack saw mountain gorillas for the first time in Rwanda and to this day, he makes it a priority to visit them regularly. Through PIC, the Zoo and Jack have witnessed firsthand that in order to really save animals, you have to educate and help the people who live near their habitat. 1991 was a pivotal year for Jack and the Columbus Zoo. The Zoo’s attendance reached 1 million guests for the first time and the Zoo cemented its commitment to wildlife conservation. When Jack arrived in 1978, the annual attendance was just over 300,000 and the Zoo was not able to support conservation. For comparison, in 2019, nearly 3 million guests visited and the Zoo granted privately raised funds to conservation projects locally and around the world. 1992 1996 1999 Jack’s title shifted to “director emeritus” so that he could focus more on representing the Columbus Zoo and animals in the media and around the world. Jack was named one of People Magazine’s “Most Beautiful People” with supporting comments from Bo Derek, Helen Gurley Brown, and Betty White! Mel Gibson got top billing that year…but we personally think that spot should have gone to the man in khaki! Bringing manatees to central Ohio to participate in a rehabilitation program was a dream come true for Jack! Working with the US Fish & Wildlife’s Manatee Rehabilitation and Recovery Program, we are a temporary home for the manatees while they recover from cold-stress and boat strikes. After being nursed back to health, the manatees return to be released back into their native waters. 2007 Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild debuted in living rooms all across the country and won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Series in its first season! Since the first big win, Jack and the show have been nominated 14 other times with wins in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018! As a longtime champion of gorilla conservation, Jack was honored to join Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, at its annual Gorilla Naming Ceremony. The ceremony celebrated the birth of 23 mountain gorillas that year – a species that the Columbus Zoo’s Partners In Conservation has supported for nearly 20 years. 2008 2009 2011 2012 The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) presented Jack with the R. Marlin Perkins Award for professional excellence for outstanding commitment to AZA’s mission of education, conservation, science and recreation. Jack was beyond humbled and honored – growing up he idolized Wild Kingdom’s Marlin Perkins and still considers him his hero. The Wilds became an official part of the Columbus Zoo family. Having honeymooned in Zanesville, Jack and Suzi have witnessed firsthand the miraculous transformation of The Wilds over the last 50 years. From the barren, strip-mined land to the beautiful savanna that it is today – both the visitor experience and the research being done at The Wilds is like nowhere else in the world! Jack Hanna’s Wild Countdown debuted on ABC on Saturday mornings around the country! Wild Countdown brings some of his favorite experiences with the world’s rarest, most endearing, and fascinating animals to viewers around the country! Although always an Ohioan at heart, Jack officially became a Buckeye when he accepted an honorary Doctorate of Public Service at The Ohio State University’s fall commencement! Jack and his Columbus Zoo animal ambassadors also took the stage as the featured speakers. 2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium opened Heart of Africa, a new 43-acre region filled with an expansive savanna habitat for lions, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and more; a central watering hole surrounded by a boardwalk to view daily cheetah runs; and immersive experiences including camel rides and giraffe feedings. Betty White joined the Zoo for the ribbon cutting ceremony on opening day! Jack made his last appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman! On-air, he presented Dave with a lifetime membership to the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds and announced The Wilds had named its new rhino calf, Letterman. Although all good things must come to an end, Jack began the next stage of his late-night television career, and made his first appearance (with more to follow) on The Late Late Show with James Corden (of carpool karaoke fame!) in October 2015. Jack and Suzi received a “Points of Light Tribute Award” for their contributions to volunteering and service that make their community and world a better place. Points of Light was founded by President George H. Bush in 1988. Jack and Suzi celebrated their 40th year at the Columbus Zoo (and their 50th wedding anniversary)! In the Hannas’ honor, the Zoo launched the Jack and Suzi Hanna Fund – an organizational fund that supports the three areas closest to their hearts: Wildlife Conservation, Transformative Education and Innovative Habitats. A mountain gorilla census, partially funded by the Columbus Zoo, announced an increase in numbers, bringing the total mountain gorilla population from a low of 242 in 1981 to 1,069 today across central Africa. The conservation action Jack and the Columbus Zoo invested in produced fruit – this news led to a change in the mountain gorilla status on the IUCN Red List from critically endangered to endangered. While there is always more work to be done it is always a highlight to see any threatened population grow in numbers.