A DAY AT JACK'S PLACE: THE COLUMBUS ZOO

Jon and Allen, September 22, 2008 

You may not believe this, but Jon and I (Allen) are not getting rich from writing this book. We've done it for the love of our favorite hobby, zoos. Sometimes, however, there truly are great benefits to being us, the authors of America's Best Zoos. Monday, September 22 was one of those times! On this warm early autumn day, we drove to the Columbus Zoo for a full day of special fun and adventure.

We began the day touring the Zoo's newest exhibit, Asia Quest, along with Christian author (and Columbus native) Marla Taviano and her family. Since Jon was the one to write our book's chapter on this zoo last year, he was already familiar with the Zoo. But for me (Allen), it had been many years since I'd been there, so it was exciting to tour its many new exhibits -- and Asia Quest was one of its best!

The primary reason for our trip was to meet with "Jungle Jack" Hanna. In case you don't know, Jack is most famous for his "Animal Adventures" TV show, which has now evolved into the new "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild" show. He's a frequent guest of David Letterman, Larry King, and other shows. He's also Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, a zoo he totally transformed. Jack greatly honored us with his personal recommendation of our book, so we wanted to get a picture of him with us. During our noontime appointment, he graced us with his full attention, standing for as many photos as we wanted, talking about zoos, and he gave each of us a signed copy of HIS great new book, Jungle Jack: My Wild Life. (I've already read it and it's super!)

After our time with Jack, his staff had arranged for Mary Ann, a dedicated zoo volunteer, to give us a very special VIP tour of the zoo. She drove us all over in an electric golf cart, starting at the spectacular Manatee Coast exhibit. What a thrill to see these gentle animals here in the Midwest! Next, we had an appointment with Columbus' famous gorillas in their amazing African Forest exhibit. We were taken into the apes' back rooms, within a couple feet of the playful gorillas. The youngest gorillas were very excited to see us, as they jumped up and down, even doing summersaults.

For me (Allen), the biggest thrill was our behind-the-scenes appointment at the koala exhibit. Petting a koala was something I'd always dreamed of, but always assumed I'd have to go to Australia for the experience. Instead, we were allowed to stroke the back of a couple soft koalas, right here in Ohio. We walked right in the midst their natural habitat yard. Amazing!

Next, we were taken inside the nation's largest pachyderm building. While zoo visitors watched through glass windows, we walked along the elephants' iron fence. For our safety, we had to stay behind a yellow line on the floor. At the end of the building, we didn't have to stay away from the black rhinos. A gentle female rhino let us pet her and feed her apple slices. Another special thrill!

Mary Ann took us all over her favorite zoo -- through the very complete North America section, the Australian aviary and nocturnal building, the Reptile House, and everywhere else. She stayed with us until the zoo had closed. As Jon and I drove home that evening, we agreed the Columbus Zoo is one of the Top Five zoos in the nation. It's that good!

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