Jack Hanna is scheduled to appear on Good Morning America and the Late Show With David Letterman on March 26, 2002. In recent Hanna appearances, frightened leopard cubs were seen panting, growling, and clinging to Diane Sawyer’s head, and a wolf showed obvious signs of excessive thirst. Besides causing unnecessary stress to baby animals by prematurely tearing them away from their mothers, carting them across the country, and subjecting them to studio lights, transport crates, crowds, and other aspects of an unnatural, alien environment, these exhibits perpetuate the notion that exotic animals are desirable pets. Hanna’s treatment of dangerous, exotic animals as pets has caused injuries to at least two children. One of Hanna’s "pet" lions bit off the arm of a 3-year-old, and a chimpanzee taken by Hanna to a church bit off part of a 5-year-old girl’s finger.

Hanna is no friend to animals. Some of Hanna’s animal suppliers have very poor records of animal care, including Stump Hill Farm, an Ohio facility that has been cited repeatedly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for mistreating primates, keeping animals in filthy cages, and failing to provide minimum space to animals. Hanna publicly supported dove hunting in Ohio, and in 1992, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association suspended Jack Hanna’s and the Columbus Zoo’s accreditation for a year because of ethics violations, i.e., importing a panda in defiance of a moratorium. Click here for more information about the problems with traveling zoos.

Click here to read PETA’s letters to Good Morning America officials requesting that they visit an accredited sanctuary rather than hosting a wildlife pimp on their show.

Click here to read PETA’s letter to Jack Hanna.

Please send a polite letter urging these television programs to either cancel Hanna’s appearance or insist that Hanna not bring live animals to the show. Contact: Ms. Shelley Ross, Executive Producer Good Morning America 147 Columbus Ave. New York, NY 10023-5900 Tel.: 212-456-5900 Fax: 212-456-5962 Click here for an online comment form. Ms. Barbara Gaines, Executive Producer The Late Show With David Letterman 1697 Broadway, 11th Fl. New York, NY 10019-5904 Tel.: 212-247-6497 Fax: 212-975-4734 Click here for an online comment form.