Jack Hanna is also known as Jungle Jack. He is currently Director Emeritus of Columbus Zoo and host of Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures and Jack Hanna's Into The Wild. His latest show: Jack Hanna’s Wild Countdown is broadcasted from his home turf, the Columbus Zoo, and Aquarium. Jack Hanna is considered to be one of the world’s leading animal experts, despite not having any academic qualification in Animal Sciences.

Childhood and Early Life

John Bushnell Hanna, better known as Jack Hanna was born on January 2, 1947. He has a brother, Bush Hanna and sister Sue. He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and lived on a farm when he was five years old. His first contact with animals came then when he had to milk cows and tend to the farm animals.

His first job was working for Dr. Warren Roberts, the veterinarian of Knoxville Zoo and Knoxville Animal Clinic. The early summer he worked with Dr. Roberts was unpaid, cleaning cages of patients in the clinic. At the age of eleven, Jack Hanna knew that he loved animals enough to work with them his whole life.

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Education

Jack Hanna was not particularly gifted in academics. He went from a private day school, Webb, to Kiski, a boarding school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania. After Kiski Jack entered Muskingum, an arts college in Ohio. Jack brought a donkey along, which would later become the mascot of the school. The donkey also helped him meet his future wife, Suzi Egli. The couple was engaged during their junior year and married on December 20, 1968.

He graduated from Muskingum College with Bachelor of Arts, completing a double major in business and political science in 1969.

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