Wildlife expert Jack Hanna, who has been featured on “The Late Show with David Letterman” will join supporters of the Henry Vilas Zoo in a fund-raising event Saturday for a new arctic exhibit.
The sold-out event, “Take a Ride on the Wild Side With Jungle Jack Hanna,” is a dinner and entertainment event featuring Hanna and some of his wild animals organized by the Henry Vilas Zoo to raise funds for its new Arctic Passage exhibit, which will house the zoo’s seals and polar bear. The estimated $8 million project also includes a new animal health center and concessions plaza.
“When you enter into Arctic Passage, you feel like you’ve been transported to the Arctic,” said Interim Zoo Director Ronda Schwetz.
Hanna hosted “Animal Adventures” for over 10 years before starting his current show on CBS, “Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild.” Besides his yearly appearance on “The Late Show,” he has been on numerous other news and talk shows, educating the audience on animal conservation.
Schwetz said Hanna’s appearance at the fund-raiser for the project “provides a really nice element of fun and recognition,” calling him “the face of animal conservation and zoos.”
Hanna will help teach attendees about the animal world by showing a variety of animals up-close along with video clips of his favorite moments from “Into the Wild.”
“When you leave [the program], [you will have] learned something about the animal world,” Hanna said. “It’s a fun program.”
Hanna said the job of all zoos, including Henry Vilas Zoo, is to “save the animals on Earth” by working together with other zoos and the community.
“We can’t sustain the populations of animals by ourselves,” Hanna said. “We have to have everybody working together.”
Schwetz said she hopes the event will increase an “awareness about the mission of the Henry Vilas Zoo,” which includes providing the community with a free zoo to learn about wild animal life and animal conservation.
“Not only do we take great care of our animals, but we pay it forward and try and help their counterparts in the wild,” she said. “Every time somebody visits the zoo, they’re helping us achieve that mission.”
