Jack Hanna Retires: 5 Times The Animal Almost Won

COLUMBUS, OH — "Jungle" Jack Hanna, who took the Columbus Zoo from obscurity to certifiable fame with his televised cuteness explosions with wild animals, is retiring after almost 42 years as the zoo's director and director emeritus.

The retirement was announced on the zoo's website Thursday, highlighting the role Hanna has played in helping zoos work with their communities in the fight to save endangered species and other conservation initiatives.

"Jack’s career and leadership transformed the Zoo and set it on the course to be one of the world’s most successful and influential zoos," the zoo said in the announcement. "The Zoo celebrates its shared history with Jack and the wonderful memories of the positive impacts made for wildlife, people working to help endangered species and members of our local and global communities."

Hanna's career at the Columbus Zoo started in 1978 when he was named executive director, a position he continued in until 1992, when he became director emeritus. He has written 15 books, hosted several television series and has hosted several nationwide educational tours.

Hanna has had several near-misses with the animals he loved so much. To mark this momentous occasion, we've compiled five times Hanna had a close encounter with his animals.

Beaver bite on Letterman

In December 1988, Hanna was a guest on "Late Night With David Letterman," where he brought a beaver with him from the Alexandria Zoological Park, as he recalls in a USA Today feature.

When Letterman's band started playing, the beaver got spooked. It swung around and one of its teeth caught Hanna's hand.

"I was in shock," Hanna said in the article. "Blood squirting out like a hose. But Letterman didn't see it. I turned and tried to hide it."

See the full video:

Alligator Attack

In 1993, Hanna told the Washington Post the closest he had come to getting killed was when he was doing a show at a swamp in Louisiana. He was discussing how alligators hunt by vibration, so he wiggled a broom in the water and an alligator came out and grabbed the broom, according to the article.

A few moments later, Hanna attempted to attract the same alligator by putting his hand in the water, but a second alligator came up from under a dock and snapped at his hand.

"It came flying up, and it was close," Hanna told the Post.

Anaconda Snack

Hanna said he almost lost a thumb to a 15-foot anaconda, in the USA Today feature. The snake bit happened when he was helping someone at a zoo in Florida. He told USA Today the snake had his entire hand in its mouth and it took a few minutes to get it out.

"Some guy took photos of this and he ended up selling them to a magazine and everyone thought I was eaten by a snake," he told the paper.

Georgia Giant

In 1972, Hanna was working with Jim Fowler, the co-host of Marlin Perkins' "Wild Kingdom," he told NFocus Nashville. While he was taken care of the animals, a young elephant pushed him against a wall so hard he thought he had broken ribs.

"That was my fault again," he told the website.

Grizzly Glacier Encounter

In 2010, Hanna and his wife were hiking in Glacier National Park when they were approached by a mother grizzly bear and her cubs, according to Outdoor Life. Hanna and his wife started backing down the trail and making loud noises, and ran into another group of hikers, who moved off into a clearing.

While the mother and one of the cubs passed, one cub stared the group down and then began to charge. Luckily, Hanna had packed bear spray. He told the magazine it was the first time he'd ever had to use the spray.