Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 18, 1991 TAG: 9103180041
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN A. COYLE/ Staff writer
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jack Hanna, director of the Columbus, Ohio, zoo, brought his entourage of animals to entertain nearly 130 people gathered for a fund-raising dinner to benefit Mill Mountain Zoo. He and the animals left Roanoke on Sunday to go to New York for this morning's appearance on "Good Morning America."
Hanna, often referred to as "Jungle Jack," is a regular guest on the ABC-TV show, as well as on "Late Night With David Letterman" and "Larry King Live."
Saturday night, before introducing his first animal, a full-grown cheetah named Buster, Hanna cautioned, "Everybody please sit still. And don't try to run because he goes about 75 miles an hour."
Next, a trainer brought out a baby Bengal tiger small enough to hold in her arms. For a crowd-pleaser, that was hard to top, but the cuddly, gray 8-week-old Syrian bear probably did.
Not all of the animals were so exotic. A plain old skunk gave Hanna a chance to warn people that, like raccoons, skunks can carry rabies without having any symptoms.
Hanna takes issue with those who say we should stop naming animals. "That's ridiculous," he said in an interview Saturday afternoon at Mill Mountain Zoo. "How do you teach children to love something? Take Ruby here. Most people know her name, but don't know she's a Bengal tiger. They can learn that once they're here. What are you supposed to do - say, `Hey Bengal tiger'?"
Hanna sees great potential for Mill Mountain Zoo, "whether on top of the mountain or with Explore," which he said "would be the best of both worlds. It would be a tragedy for a community of this size not to have a park of this nature."
Hanna concluded Saturday night's presentation with hilarious tapes of some his appearances on the Letterman show, followed by slides of several endangered and threatened species.
He called the slaughter of the black rhinoceros one of the greatest tragedies in the world resulting from pure human greed. A poacher gets only $200 for the rhino horn, Hanna explained. Then it is sold in North Yemen for $25,000. The demand is great because a dagger made from a rhino horn is regarded as the highest symbol of power one can possess.
He sees zoos now as having as large a role in education as in conservation. "You can have the best conservation program, but if the public doesn't understand, what good has it done?" he asked. "Just like in Africa - you have all that conservation, but if you don't educate those Africans, they'll continue to farm or poach or whatever."
"If you haven't been to Africa, you really should try to get there while there's still something left," Hanna urged the crowd.
by CNB