Jack Hanna Was Diagnosed With Alzheimers in 2019 Here's How the Zookeeper is Doing Today

Publish date: 2024-05-28

In 2019, Columbus Zoo zookeeper and TV character Jack Hanna was diagnosed with Alzheimers. His family lately shared how he is doing today.

Source: Getty Images

Nobody does flora and fauna documentaries better than Jack Hanna did. The renowned American zookeeper and animal skilled changed into a beloved public determine who would incessantly seem on TV shows and in natural world documentaries.

His hobby and aura for animals have been exceptional, and he hooked up with audiences straight away. He even landed a few presentations of his own like Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures, Jack Hanna's Into the Wild, and Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown. In those systems, he would travel to other portions of the global to have interaction and find out about the wildlife there.

But sadly, Jack's health started to say no in the previous few years. In October 2019, he was diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease.

For a while, he persisted to work but in December 2020, he formally left his place as director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, a zoo he had labored at for over forty years.

In April 2021, his circle of relatives launched an legitimate observation on his website claiming his sickness had improved a lot sooner than they anticipated and that he can be stepping away from public life.

Recently, his circle of relatives gave every other public update regarding his health. We proportion the details under.

Source: Facebook / Jungle Jack Hanna

Jack Hanna and his spouse Suzi in 2017

How is Jack Hanna doing? An replace on his present well being.

In June 2023, Jack's circle of relatives spoke with The Columbus Dispatch about his health. They explained that while Jack is nonetheless cellular, his Alzheimers has progressed to the level that he does now not know most of his circle of relatives.

He still recollects his spouse Suzi, who he has been married to for over 50 years, in addition to his canine Brassy. And at times, he too can take into account his oldest daughter Kathaleen, who travels from England to look him.

However, his two different daughters, Suzanne and Julie, do not ring a bell to him.

1. We welcomed the @DispatchAlerts into our house for a real-world glance into residing with Alzheimer's disease. While Dad/Jack is still cell, his thoughts fails him, the gentle in his eyes has dimmed, and we leave out who he was each & each and every second of the day. https://t.co/ssU7hE2W7r

— Jack Hanna (@JungleJackHanna) June 21, 2023

This has been immensely tricky for his circle of relatives, however as Suzi informed the outlet, "My husband is still in there somewhere."

She explains that from time to time, she'll see little glimpses of who he was. “There are still the ones sweet, smooth moments — you know, items of him that made me and the rest of the global fall in love with him," she said, adding "It’s arduous. Real arduous some days. But he took care of me all those years, and so it’s my flip to maintain him.”

Currently, a typical day for Jack — who used to go back and forth an average of 200 days a year — involves waking up mid-morning and having a bowl of blueberries, three scrambled eggs with cheese in the heart, bacon, tomatoes, and two waffles with butter and syrup. Then he takes a two-mile walk with Suzi.

Sadly, Jack is blind to who he was once and his legacy.

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