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CNN Larry King Live
Jack Hanna Brings the World's Creatures to You
Aired January 01, 2008 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Tonight, the real Dr. Doolittle brings the world's creatures to you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: Oh, wow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: A Saharan camel and a tarantula from South America for starters. Jack Hanna talks to the animals. They've got a lot to say. A reindeer and other surprises. Look out. Animal house. Next on LARRY KING LIVE.
It's the holiday season and what better way to kick it off than our annual visit with Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. He is the host of Jack Hanna's "Into the Wild", one of the more popular shows in syndicated TV. His Web site is jackhanna.com.
We are going to do our animals as we line them up tonight by region. We'll meet Australia, the Sahara Desert, South America, Eurasia, the sound you hear in the background is an owl that will not shut up.
Anyway, Jack, before we get to the animals, you were back in Rwanda this summer with the mountain gorillas.
HANNA: Right.
KING: Natalie Portman was there. The actress. What was that like?
HANNA: It was amazing. Not just from the standpoint of not just seeing the gorillas, but taking Natalie there who has always loved animals all of her life and to see the excitement she had not just for the gorillas, but the people of Rwanda was something else.
I think she was a little taken aback about how the country has turned around now and considered the most safest and democratic country in Africa right now thanks to President Kagame but it is phenomenal to see a mountain gorilla there between -- You ought to go with me sometime.
KING: I would love to go. I have heard so much about it.
HANNA: You really would. Where you are sitting is a 500-pound silver back gorilla and you're sitting over here and this is in the wild.
KING: I would like that.
HANNA: You would like that. Well, I think you would like that.
KING: You bought a home there?
HANNA: We built a house there for the country, is what we built it for and it's working now, investors, people are coming there. We are excited about it.
KING: That is phenomenal. That is Rwanda. And he highly recommends it with the mountain gorillas. Let's meet the animals of Australia. We begin with the most famous Australian animal.
HANNA: You think of Australia, Larry, as obviously a huge continent out there, like an island by itself. And the animals there are mostly marsupials. And what better marsupial can you have here that can kick the fire out of you than ...
KING: They like to hop, huh?
HANNA: Right. This is a beautiful kangaroo. These animals, Larry, can go 30 to 40 miles an hour. They can hop 25 to 30 feet in one leap. This is a big red kangaroo here. This is get to be six, seven feet tall standing up. The dangerous thing about a kangaroo, people thing of a kangaroo as not being dangerous but one thing they do have is that back foot there. If that camera can focus on the back leg on the floor there. I want to show you -- Look at that, there we go. See those feet right there? Look at the claws on that. That animal last year, Larry, killed a person from the standpoint of someone cornering the kangaroo, instead of running, he couldn't get away, and he leaped up like this with that front leg, bam, just rips you wide open. That is what he does as a means of defense.
Obviously the kangaroo has no other defense other than speed and that. That tail is used for balance. What do you think you call a big old group of kangaroos. What would you call them?
KING: Kangari. Lots of kangaroos.
HANNA: It's called a mob. A mob of kangaroos.
KING: Is that is where the word mob comes from?
HANNA: It's where the word mob comes form plus, remember the joey. One important thing about the kangaroo is when they are born they look like a jelly bean. Like a little bean. They come out of the birth canal and go into the pouch. That is why they call it a marsupial. It develops in the pouch, it stays there six months, attaches to the nipple. Stays there six months.
Also, the kangaroo can be the only animal in the world that can have three different stages of life, they can have a baby leaving the pouch, one going in the pouch and breeding at the same time. Three different stages of life. KING: Let's meet the wallaby?
HANNA: Well, the wallaby is an animal - some people say, well, the wallaby is not a kangaroo. But the wallaby is a kangaroo, it's just a different size of kangaroo. You can hold it right here. You can see it looks like a kangaroo, doesn't it?
KING: Sure does?
HANNA: Is this a Bennett's (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A dama (ph).
HANNA: A dama wallaby. Now there are about 30 types of wallaby, Larry, from 12 inches tall up to one like the Bennett's wallaby, three feet tall. You can see the back feet just like the big kangaroos. The tail like this. The tail is a little bit different, thicker and different than the red kangaroo.
KING: Do they have a pouch?
HANNA: They have a pouch. Again Australia has more marsupials than any continent or any country in the world.
KING: Are they mostly dark colored?
HANNA: Mostly dark colored gray like this. Yes. You see a lot of these, Larry, especially the big kangaroos out in the outback hit by cars. Like deer hit in this country. In that pouch, if it is a female and she has been hit that baby is alive in that pouch up to 48 hours. So a lot of people take the babies out of the pouch and take them to a rehab center in Australia and they will live. These, Larry, here, are little mobs of 20, 30, 40 animals. If anybody wants to go to Australia, I'd suggest the place to go to really see a lot of stuff is Kangaroo Island in Southern Australia. You have wallabies, kangaroos, koalas, penguins there, all sorts of neat creatures.
KING: Blue tongued skink. How would you like to be known as a blue tongued skink. It is a snake.
HANNA: No. It is a lizard. Look at the blue -- See the blue tongue?
KING: Yeah. That is why they call it a blue tongue.
HANNA: That's why they call it a blue tongued skink. A lot of animals are threatened by that tongue. Most tongues of these lizards as you know are pink or red. This animal here they call a blue tongue skink, they even say sometimes they use their tail, Larry, as far as -- he doesn't bite, does he?
KING: What a time to tell me.
HANNA: Yeah, right. That is why I pull him back over here. A lot of these animals will turn around, Larry, and present their tail to their predator so they bite their tail instead of the head. You see them bite the tail off and it runs away and grows a new tail.
KING: This is his friend?
HANNA: Yes. This is his friend.
You see how he uses is tongue. Is this one using his tongue much?
KING: No.
HANNA: This one here is using his tongue more. I hope they go to see that see that, there we go. You see the blue tongue. That is a neat animal.
KING: One more from Australia. The kookaburra.
HANNA: This animal is interesting.
KING: You've got one minute in this segment.
HANNA: OK, try it Steve.
Now, Larry, tell me, is that not good? Is that funny?
KING: That is funny. Good cue.
HANNA: Think about the old jungle movies, when I was young, when you were young, the old Tarzan movies, if you remember that sound, that was Australian bird doing that sound in Africa. That's how they recorded it back then. Do that one more time.
Called a laughing kookaburra. I could hear that all day long. When you go to Australia, it is fun to hear ...
KING: We'll be right back with more. We just started. Don't go away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNA: There is a dead baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where?
HANNA: There is a dead baby. She's still got it. Look. I'm sorry. I don't believe that. She's still got the dead baby. Oh, my gosh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
HANNA: I shouldn't have shown you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNA: It wasn't long before they decided to move, so we followed. That's when it happened. My family and I found ourselves on the same path as the largest silverback on the entire mountain range. Although gorillas are peaceful creatures, their size and strength commands respect.
The one thing you are told not to do is have direct eye contact with a gorilla. Especially with the silverback male. It is a threat to him. If a person goes like that to you, what's your problem? That is what the big male is saying, what's your problem. Why are you looking at me like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Welcome back to LARRY KING LIVE with Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and his own "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild" show.
All in this segment will be from the Saharan Desert, Africa in general, our first is the Saharan Desert camel.
HANNA: This is a camel, obviously, Larry, that lives in the desert. Camels are an animal, what we call a beast of burden, from the standpoint this is a young camel, obviously. Camels are an animal that can drink very little water. That hump, obviously, that hump will grow and that hump will hold moisture, hold water, is what I'm saying. It may not actually hold water, it holds a lot of fat that helps with the camel. The camel has two eyelids, that helps it when the sand is blowing in the desert in the bad storms there.
They are a creature used for everything, not just a beast of burden they ride on or do their packs on. If the camel dies they use the bone for tools and they use obviously the hair for coats and things. The animal is like you having a Mercedes. This is invaluable to the folks who live in this world. There are basically really no wild camels left except maybe the Bactrian camel which is in Mongolia. This is dromedary, dromedary means one hump, Bactrian with a B means two humps. This is a one-humper camel.
KING: This is Lawrence of Arabia.
HANNA: Right. And have you ever ridden a camel?
KING: No. My boys have. Oh, once I did in Israel.
HANNA: Oh, you did ride one. Did you ride a long way?
KING: No. Around the circle once before I panic.
HANNA: If you rode one of these camels for days, the legs are raw. It is not an easy animal to ride, a camel. These are animals that we see -- they have horse racing. They have camel racing. But they are an animal that Anita and David Jackson have that is a tremendous animal. One that a lot of people don't get to see. Especially around the holiday season you think of the camel.
KING: How did you get it in this building?
HANNA: That was a hard thing to do. The people downstairs didn't want to let the animal in. But I told them I was doing your show and they understood I had to let the animal in. But there might be some things with the changing elevator, a little damage was done.
KING: Do they spit?
HANNA: Oh yeah. Wild camels can spit and bite like you wouldn't believe. You have to be very, very careful. Very careful.
KING: He is going to bite. Out.
HANNA: Thank you, Anita, for bringing that.
KING: There he goes. Whoa.
HANNA: Look at this thing?
KING: What is it?
HANNA: It is a scorpion. Sting the fire on you.
KING: You brought this on -- his was supposed to be last.
HANNA: I know. I wanted to scare you.
KING: You succeeded.
HANNA: I don't think you should hold that.
KING: No. No. No. Pass.
HANNA: Look at that, Larry. Can you imagine? I don't believe you are doing that. Look at that stinger. Look at that singer. Let me see a good shot of that. Beautiful shot. This is National Geographic. These guys you have are National Geographic.
KING: We have a great crew here.
HANNA: Look at that, Larry, look at the stinger. Look at this. Let me hold her. Right there. You see the thing on the tail?
KING: Aren't you afraid it might bite you?
HANNA: You wouldn't see me doing it. Larry, these are the ones that go at bite (ph) too.
KING: Two more in the Saharan Desert.
HANNA: Do you think the boys will like that scorpion?
KING: Yeah. You want it boys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
KING: Luke is here, too. No scorpion. The Saharan Desert porcupine.
HANNA: This is an African porcupine. And David Jackson, this is one of the few you'll see, Larry. We use this animal for education purposes. I think this is a magnificent - this animal, almost, Larry, if you look at the whole animal itself, look at the beauty of that animal. See these quills here. What happens, Larry, when you see these in the wild -- I only have seen them in the wild one time. Only one time. Not many zoos in this country have these. They are nocturnal, they are solitary.
And listen to this. When this animal gets excited, Larry, it brings those quills up like a peacock. You see how they are spread up. When he is not alarmed, right now he doesn't want you to eat his apple. You see this right here? A lot of lions and hyenas will try to eat this animal. It is very, very soft, very soft underneath there.
KING: Good meat.
HANNA: Exactly. They try to turn it over to eat it. What happens is these quills get stuck in their paws and their mouth, and a lot of the time, 90 percent of the time infection will set in and kill the animals. Isn't that beautiful. Look at this. They use these quills for weapons as well as dresses, knitting needles and all sorts of things.
KING: They also have a very humorous face.
HANNA: Look at that. Isn't that a beautiful face. It looks like a hair cut on a singer or something, doesn't it. You know what I'm talking about.
KING: Oh, he likes that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull one of the quills out.
HANNA: No.
KING: You pull the quill out.
HANNA: Don't touch him, Larry.
KING: No. You don't have to tell me.
HANNA: You don't want to get stuck by a porcupine.
David is the only one who picks up a porcupine.
KING: He picks it up. Good luck, David.
HANNA: Look at that. I'm going to let the boys take that to school, but don't dare let them get stuck.
KING: This is a quill?
HANNA: It is a small, baby quill there. Look at that. You can't see the thing.
KING: But this can hurt you?
HANNA: Oh, yeah.
KING: Big time.
One more from the Sahara Desert region. The Saharan Desert tortoise.
HANNA: This is a tortoise. You can bring him right up here if you want to. Sorry, here I'm telling you what to do and that thing weighs 500 pounds. This Larry, right here is a spurthide (ph), right? From Conservation Ambassadors. See the spurs right here, Larry, that is how the animal protects himself. He is in his shell. This is his home right here.
KING: How long do they live?
HANNA: This could be 70 to 100 years. This - you probably want to know, how do you find a male or female tortoise, right? A lot of people ask me that question.
KING: I get asked that all the time. Everywhere I go they ask.
HANNA: Any tortoise. If your boys ask you this question.
KING: One minute left.
HANNA: I'm going to show you this. This is a male. You should be able to figure this out because it is concave because when he mounts a female, he obviously has to get on top of her shell. This has to be concave, right? If it was flat he would just roll right off. You see what I'm talking about?
KING: What apparatus does he use?
HANNA: That is back in the back. Hey, hey. My hand.
KING: Wait a second. A girl tortoise gets mounted by this and lives how long?
HANNA: Well, depends on how big she is. You have to remember the female tortoise shell is totally flat. Isn't that interesting.
KING: Interesting.
HANNA: That is nature.
KING: Got to get a break. We'll come back. And when we come back the animals of South America with Jack Hannah. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HANNA: Every time the mother impala turned away, the hunting party closed the distance. Yep. Here they go. She knows now. She knows.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something approaching.
HANNA: There he goes. There they go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There they go.
HANNA: There they go.
The confused calf ran straight towards the cheetah. Barely had to run at all. They seemed to be making a game of it, letting it go so they could chase it one last time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We're back with Jack Hanna, his show by the way, "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild" one of the best shows on television. The animals of South America. We begin with the spider monkey. Is it a spider or is it a monkey?
HANNA: That's a good question.
KING: That's why I asked.
HANNA: This animal here, Larry, you can't really see why we call it a spider monkey. Because when I was a young man, we raised a jocomo (ph) spider monkey, we had to raise them for zoos. This one I'm sorry to say was found as a dumpster in Los Angeles. In a dumpster. Someone had it as a pet. Threw it in there. Therefore its legs are all deform and the Jacksons at their beautiful sanctuary north of here in California we now use it for education. To tell people why you don't have a monkey as a pet. They are not only dirty, they carry disease, and they're a beautiful animal, unless you know what you're doing, leave them alone.
In most states now it is against the law to have a monkey as a pet. So they have done a great job. This animal has been there about 12 years. Never would have had a home unless these folks had rescued him out of a dumpster. He is called a spider monkey, Larry, because it has a long tail and his legs and arms, if this was normal, are like twice as long as his body. It goes through the trees in the rainforest like a big spider.
And they are social. It looks like a big bunch of spiders flying through the trees in South America is where they are from. And they mainly eat fruits and - There is the tail, prehensile tail, by the way. Look at this here, it is a finger. Basically, isn't that amazing. You talk about a prehensile tail. That animal grabs like this, Larry, it is like you would your fingers or tails holding on. Just like that.
KING: Our next animal is a marmoset. HANNA: These animals, Larry, are an animal what we call also pollinators of the rain forest. You can see that right over here if you look right in there. Look at that. Aren't these unique creatures? Look at these little things. See them?
KING: Boy.
HANNA: It is almost not like a bat or something. But one of the smallest primates in the world. They are called marmosets. There are also tamarins, the difference between a tamarin and a marmoset is the location of their teeth. But these are the common marmosets. You have all sorts of little marmosets. And when they are born, Larry, they are so tiny you wouldn't believe it. And these are pollinators in the rainforest. This animal right here, Larry, when they eat fruits and seeds and things, they jump tree to tree and they defecate and that pollinates trees. Aren't they unique, though, look at this? You want to put it on your head?
KING: Yeah.
HANNA: See if he'll jump on Larry's head. You can go over to Larry. He might like that. I don't know if he will because he doesn't know you very well. I don't know if he'll do that. He doesn't know Larry very well. But stand right here next to Larry, if you will. I want you to see these again. Aren't they ...
KING: Beautiful.
HANNA: Beautiful faces, aren't they. I love the marmosets. I've only seen them twice, Larry, in my trips to South America.
I'm sure your boys have seen these in the Fruit Loops bird.
KING: Fruit loops.
HANNA: Here, Larry. Let him see the grape. I don't know if this one catches grapes or not. Let me see here. Oh, here Larry. You can throw one from way over there, Larry. Now let him see the grape.
KING: Bad throw.
HANNA: Bad throw.
Oh, good throw.
Hey, one of your sons, come over here a minute. Chance come here. Both you boys come over here. Take a grape. Stand right there and take a grape and throw it in the air. Right in his mouth. Throw it in the air. Good job. All right. Good job.
KING: Good boy!
HANNA: Hey, guys, open your mouth. One more. I'm sorry. Here. Come here. KING: I've lost control of the show. Jack Hanna has lost his mind. History in the making as Jack Hanna loses his mind on LARRY KING LIVE. Now the next one is a cuendo, c-u-e-n-d-u.
Look at this, let's all touch all this.
HANNA: Larry, the Jacksons also, Conservation Ambassadors. You have three porcupines. You have the African porcupine you saw, the Central and South American porcupine. And the North American porcupine. This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Look at this right in here. This quill I'm pulling real hard. I'm pulling real, real hard. There. Now you can show that to the boys. There is a quill there. It has a little barb on the end. You can't see it with the human eye. This is a prehensile tailed porcupine, by the way, in Central and South America.
KING: We have to bring in one more animal.
HANNA: Smell this one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mmm.
KING: Goodbye to the cuendo. And one more big tarantula.
HANNA: That is a good one there. The reason to do this is to show folks how they do a web. Back in here, Larry, they can actually come out of their entire skin and laying here like this and you think it is another tarantula. They shed their skin a couple of times a year.
KING: This is, of course, a spider.
HANNA: Larry, right here is where they bite.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are their fangs.
HANNA: Yep, the fangs.
KING: Have to get a break in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a bird eater.
HANNA: This one eats birds.
KING: When we come back, Eurasia presents its animals on LARRY KING LIVE.
Deadly black tarantula.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Back with Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, host of "Jack Hanna's Into the Wild." The Web site, by the way, is jackhanna.com. And now we begin with one of my favorites, the hedgehog.
HANNA: A lot of little stories written about these for the kids.
KING: Look how cute they are. They can also cut you.
HANNA: Notice how they pick these up, Larry like this. You want to try it?
KING: No.
HANNA: It's hard to do because it sticks like this. This is the Eurasian little hedgehog here. These animals, Larry, one of the few animals in the world that venom has never bothered, these animals. These animals are nocturnal as well.
KING: They are never bothered by venom?
HANNA: Venom, no. This is a Eurasian hedge hog. They even, so they don't cross roads and get hit, they even put pipes underneath the roads now in Asia and the European hedgehogs are a little bit bigger. Look here. If you were an animal coming up to try to eat this animal. Just do that, barely do that. Just barely touch him. He can't throw his quills, by the way. See how he growls a little and puffs up. That is what they do to keep you away. They are a neat little creature and nocturnal. There's the little quills there. Thank you so much ...
KING: Next is the Eurasian eagle owl.
HANNA: Thank you. What this is, Larry, this is the largest owl species of owl in the world.
KING: Hello there.
HANNA: If you are on a game show, Larry, and someone says what animal is on every continent except Antarctica, only one animal on every continent except Antarctica.
KING: The owl.
HANNA: The owl species. They also call the owl the bird of silent flight. I'll let Anita put that back on her arm there. The bird of silent flight. You see when it goes like that, the wings, you can't hear that. This owl looks like he may weigh three or four pounds. That owl doesn't even weigh a pound and a half. Isn't that amazing?
And they have great senses, Larry. They can see at night time. Their eyesight is five times greater than ours. But how they hunt is with echolocation. If I put a mouse in this room totally dark tonight, totally dark, by morning he will eat that mouse without seeing it. Echolocation, like radar goes right into it.
KING: Wow.
HANNA: I love owls, Larry. We had 12 squirrels in my back yard in Ohio, 12 squirrels, I had no squirrels, two owls, they at all the squirrels. KING: Next we meet the ...
HANNA: Biggest owl in the world. You have small owls, too, like the screech owl.
KING: Next we meet the slow - goodbye.
HANNA: Thank you, Anita.
KING: Goodbye. Next we meet the slow laurus.
HANNA: This is a very interesting animal here.
KING: Is there a fast laurus
HANNA: Now, a slow laurus. This animal is from Asia. They call it a slow laurus because you can see how slow it moves. It also, this is the one that has a little poison sack there. It does bite. It has venom that can kill its prey. It does eat a lot of insects and nighttime and it will eat small animals.
Look at this, very prehistoric animal - I say prehistoric. An animal that has been around a great deal - see those eyes there? Those eyes are nocturnal to see with. Look at those little hands. Aren't those interesting. Look at those hands. Almost like a primate. Look at that. Just like hands for gripping. I don't know if you can see that or not.
KING: Wide space between the thumb and the forefinger.
HANNA: Right.
KING: And this is the huge albino Burmese python.
HANNA: Right. Hey, boys, come back in here a second. You boys come here a minute, I want you to help me. I hope you don't mind, Larry calling the boys here.
KING: No. They are coming on the last two settlements.
HANNA: Come here you two guys. Come over here. Get a hold of this thing. Help us hold. Just stand here. Come to Uncle Jack.
KING: This is Luke.
HANNA: Hey look, get over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your arms out.
HANNA: Take your shoes off. Take your shoes off first.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
HANNA: I'm just kidding. They don't like to eat people with shoes on. Put that around your neck. Feel the power. Feel the power of that thing. Can you feel it? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.
HANNA: How come you guys aren't smiling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is shedding.
HANNA: No. It is not shedding. Tell me something, is this slimy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
HANNA: That is a good answer. No. It's not slimy. People think they are slimy. They have 220 feet that are like fishhooks. Don't let him bite you. Because it will not let go. This snake will bite you -- let me have your arm, like that. If you were to bite somebody you could let go, right? The snake cannot do that.
He bites you and he doesn't let go for 30 minutes and he just goes like this and starts to -- don't back off. I'm just using an example here. He takes his mouth and your head has to go first and he swallows you whole like that, right down his belly.
Isn't that something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does he fit it in?
HANNA: It does. Trust me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This thing won't stretch. He'll break open.
HANNA: Yes, he'll stretch. His mouth will open like this. See how big his mouth is. Bring your head over there a minute. See how it works. Slowly get your head in there.
KING: OK, boys, go. You'll be back soon.
HANNA: Thanks a lot, man.
KING: Attacked by an owl and the kids hold a snake. One more animal in the Eurasia section, this is one of the oldest living monkeys, the royal Thai makooka ....
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Macaque.
HANNA: You are miked, aren't you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.
HANNA: Larry, this animal here is something really - a real special animal. This animal is one of the oldest in the world, probably.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's over 40 years old, yes.
HANNA: Over 40 years old Larry. It's a royal Thai macaque, right? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
HANNA: So, in royalty these animal cans not be hunted or anything in that part of the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is correct. They are protected.
HANNA: They are a protected species over there. That is a macaque. And also these animals can swim really well. People don't realize this. Some macaque species can take temperatures 20, 30, 40 degrees below zero and they can swim underwater.
How do I know that? Because I built a brand new habitat at the Columbus Zoo in 1979. I was so proud of it. I put 12 macaques out on this beautiful island after I spent six months building it. Within three months every one of them got out because I didn't know they could swim. That was before I knew anything. I still don't know much.
But they all swam out and ran around and it took me six months to catch them. Columbus, Ohio, they went 200 miles to Cleveland. I caught two of them in Cleveland, Ohio, in October. They got loose in June. But that's a macaque, Larry, an animal - obviously this one has a little arthritis right now but has a great home.
KING: Kind of sad face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, she is happy. Very content. We call it content.
KING: OK. That was our visit to Eurasia. When we come back, it's Madagascar time and still to come North America. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back on this festive evening with Jack Hanna and the animals. And this segment deals with the animals of Madagascar. And we begin with Demerel's (ph) boa, a little snake.
HANNA: People think of Madagascar, they don't really realize how valuable Madagascar is for the types of animals they have there. You've got to remember something. It is not like the Galapagos Islands, but some of the unique species live there. If you go out of Kenya, head out about 1,000 miles, Madagascar.
Some of the most unique species in the world live there as well as probably the most endangered in the world live on that island. This is a boa constrictor. You have boas from South America, you have boas from the Caribbean. From Puerto Rico you have a very endangered boa there. The Puerto Rican boa.
This is a boa constrictor. You can tell by the coloring and patches. These animals mainly eat rodents, small birds, animals like that. But an animal that is only found obviously on the island of Madagascar. So we do know that somewhere throughout the lifetime of this earth that boas must have been in quite a few places on this earth. They all got left when the oceans divided everything, this animal obviously, this type of boa ended up on the island of Madagascar. See the unique markings. A lot of boas have similar markings like this. Beautiful animals. And the boa in South America get to be four to five feet long. A lot of people have boas as pets. Again, it is an animal that takes a lot of work. It is not just a snake that you can mess around. These animals have to have special climates, heating, all types of things. So, a beautiful creature.
KING: The lemur, the black and white and the red roughed.
HANNA: These are two types of lemurs from Madagascar, Larry. The only place in the world you find a lemur. People don't realize this - the lemur, it is called a presimian. What's a presimian mean, Larry? It means pre-monkey and pre-ape. This animal has been around for who knows how many thousands of years.
KING: It is the Larry the lemur.
HANNA: Exactly. How did you remember that?
KING: From the Columbus Zoo.
HANNA: From the Columbus Zoo. Notice their tails. This isn't like a prehensile tail you can think of like a lot of animals. This animals, these tails are used - see what he's doing right now?
KING: Making sounds.
HANNA: Look at this. He is smelling you right now is what he's doing. If you look at the hands on the one right here, I don't know what hands they want to focus on but maybe this red rough lemur, Larry, there are about 40 or 50 different types of lemur. Today there are 26 or 27 from my understanding.
If you took a Google and looked at the island after Madagascar and all of us talk about the rain forest and loss of rain forest. You can see in Madascar what has happened. It is all brown except for a few little patches of green. Of course this animal lives in the forest. And there are an animal, their little hands look just like your hands. If you look at this creature here.
They live in troops and families. Up anywhere from 20 animals up to 50, 60 animals. There are little lemurs like this big full grown and there are big lemurs like the red rough lemur and the black and white lemur. Very social creatures. They also have stink glands underneath their armpits here. I'm not going to let him, but he wants to mark you. I can tell right now. That's what he wants to do. Mark his territory.
KING: Amazing.
HANNA: Lemurs. The only place in the world you find the lemurs.
KING: And finally in the Madagascar section, cockroaches.
HANNA: These are the ones I've had on before. People don't realize a lot of times about the Madagascar hissing cockroach. We'll put him on your shirt like I've done before. The first time years ago you didn't like that. But I don't think you will mind it today. They're hissing - uh-oh, can't get him.
KING: He is stuck in my shirt. Beautiful.
HANNA: This is the Madagascar hissing cockroach. Listen. Hear him hissing. I had him hissing a minute ago. A lot of times they hiss.
KING: He is chirping.
HANNA: You can hear. These are all females I think. You can tell by the little horns on their head. This is a young male right there. These animals, they only live on Madagascar. For example, those lemurs don't eat this kind of animal here. They are animals that are going to survive -- cockroaches will be around for who knows whatever happens.
KING: They last forever, right?
HANNA: Forever, yeah. They eat anything. A lot of times I'm in a restaurant because I'm on the road a lot by myself and I'm in a restaurant eating. I will put them in the breadbasket. I will tell the waitress, I'll say, hey, ma'am, you have a problem. You have cockroaches in your house here and she says no. And the manager comes and get free steak, free everything.
KING: These are from Madagascar. When we come back, the boys join us and we visit the animals of North America. Don't go away.
HANNA: This ought to be interesting. No. You don't want to go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Coming up at the top of the hour on 360, less than two days, less than two days if Hillary Clinton's being the presumptive nominee is a blessing or curse, less than two days until we learn if Mike Huckabee is more than flash in the political pan and less than two days until voters in Iowa can finally tune out the hype and get down to the real business of who might be the next president of the United States. There are new polls that show which way this thing is tilting. We'll bring it all to you with the best political team on television.
We'll also bring you the latest on the tiger attack out of San Francisco. Reports that the tiger might have been antagonized with slingshots by the young men she attacked. We'll have the latest on the investigation. And Jack Hanna joins us to talk tigers and attacks. All that and more at the top of the hour on 360. Now back to LARRY KING.
KING: In the last two settlements as always we welcome Chance and Cannon King. They are brothers. Chance is eight and a half, Cannon is seven and a half. And their best friend Luke Rappaport joins us as well. All three of these play football and baseball together, will also play basketball as well in the coming days.
And we begin this segment with the western great horned owl.
HANNA: Yes. Now what we're going to do, Larry, we are going to attempt to have the owl land on your head. So don't get nervous. I know what we are doing. What you are trying to do is put this helmet on.
KING: Put this helmet on. This is an owl helmet.
HANNA: Yeah. This is an owl helmet. Is that on right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
HANNA: What you ...
KING: This is some sort of clown joke.
HANNA: Don't do that boys. You can't put your hand up there. Watch what happens, boys. Oh, wow.
KING: Is he on my head?
HANNA: Can you do that again. Look at this.
KING: That was wild.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got to wait for him to eat.
HANNA: Larry, see what I'm talking about? You didn't feel it or hear it, did you.
KING: I heard a wind.
HANNA: You can imagine -- oh, that is neat, boys, how many times have you seen your dad with an owl on his head?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two times. It's been right now.
HANNA: Exactly. See what I'm talking about, boys ...
KING: Why did it go to this helmet?
HANNA: Because we bait him. She is behind you going like this. The owl knows that is from the standpoint of how the owl was trained. But Larry, that is why I wanted you to see you didn't know it was on your head. You can imagine a mouse not realizing anything.
KING: Did not. That is really amazing.
HANNA: You are a good sport.
KING: Next we have ... HANNA: if that owl is going to get you, it is going to get you. Here we have both of them. Here boys, come in closer. You very rarely get to see this, the hooting of an owl. I love this. You might here a hooting owl. Shh. Can you imagine, guys, think about this in the forest at nighttime by yourself.
KING: We're in the forest at night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sleeping.
HANNA: Wouldn't that sound neat, though, at nighttime. A lot of times you wake up and say, what's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He really did scare me on that.
KING: He scared you.
HANNA: You need to go camping with me. You won't be afraid. With jungle Jack in the forest you are safe as anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm talking about when you ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have one for them to hold now.
KING: All right. Here we come.
HANNA: Look at this. Who wants to hold it?
KING: Luke. Chance goes first.
HANNA: Guys, hey, guys, listen to this. This is a deadly screech owl. It's the most poisonous bird in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get it off.
HANNA: I'm joking. Chance that is a joke. I'm joking.
KING: Last time chance was on we had a poison toad.
HANNA: I was joking, kids. Chance. He is not going to hurt you. These are little screech owls. This is one of the smallest owls in the world. Remember what I told you all earlier? Good job. I know it is getting heavy. Goes do you think you can hold it. Tell me something, that doesn't weigh three ounces. You can't feel a thing, can you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
HANNA: See there? Isn't that a beautiful bird, though? I love owls. Isn't that something. That is one of the smallest owls in the world out of 17, OK. That's a little screech owl. You are brave.
KING: Next, boys, you are going to love the next one. Alligators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it primeval? HANNA: Wait. Don't worry. What is wrong? Watch out for his tail. Come here come back here. Watch out. A crocodile. Watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He bit me.
HANNA: No. He didn't bite you. He's not going to hurt you. I want you to feel it. Where are you? Come here. Cannon, come here a minute.
KING: Cannon, go over to Jack.
HANNA: Come over to Jack. Jack's good. Hold this one here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to hold it?
HANNA: Feel this here. This is one of the most prehistoric animals on earth. This is the alligator, here. Feel that.
KING: Feel it, Chance.
HANNA: You can look down their mouth. In their esophagus they have a little flap. What are you doing? Don't worry. Sit up here. This is a croc - which one is this here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alligator.
HANNA: This is an alligator also. We turn him around.
The crocodile, guys, you'll notice something. The crocodile has a much thinner snout. All right? Bigger ridges on his back. They can live to be 100 years old. They can go up to one year without eating. Do you know how they hunt? They hunt with vibration. Right down the side, Larry, right down in here. As you know, our good conservation friend Steve Irwin taught us a lot about these animals and did such a tremendous job for all people around the world to appreciate the gator and reptiles and all sorts of neat creatures. They have little sensors right here and feel vibration, Larry, in the water. If you are kicking and stuff in the water they hunt with the vibration is what they do.
They lay eggs, too, guys did you know that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are they laying one right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he noticing I'm doing this?
HANNA: No. Don't worry. This is Jackson's - this is their buddy here. But if you are told not to swim with the alligators, don't swim with them. If you are in Florida and they say there are alligators out there, don't go swimming where there are gators. But don't worry about that. It's like getting hit by lightning. It'll never happen to you.
KING: Is that a good tip, Chance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. But that thing freaks me out. HANNA: What freaks you out?
KING: The little one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's looking at me.
HANNA: I thought you were talking about your brother or something.
KING: OK. Next. We are pressed on time here.
HANNA: I could be here all day. Are you guys having fun?
KING: Say goodbye to the alligators.
HANNA: Thank you, David.
KING: The forest tree porcupine.
HANNA: This guy right here is from North America. Now don't get all nervous. This porcupine right here. Don't touch him. You don't want to touch him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
HANNA: See the quills, how he puffs up again. Look at those quills back there, see them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one would want to.
HANNA: See those quills. You see that? Look at those quills. Those quills, Larry, each have a barb on them. The minute you touch them -- they don't throw them, but the minute you touch it that quill will comes off in your hand and cause an infection like a dog, a coyote or a cougar.
They turn them over and try to eat the underside, like remember I told you about the African porcupine. These animals have an odor on them as well. They are a very, very important animal to nature. Because they control a lot of, they help with the dead trees and bark and that type of thing. Because these are a unique creature again called a porcupine.
KING: We only have a minute. So I have to get the next one which is the three-banded armadillo.
HANNA: This is the three-banded armadillo from Brazil. Isn't that neat? Look at this guys. And by the way, this is the only animal in the world that carried leprosy, Larry. Not this one. This was a long time ago. This is a three banded armadillo.
KING: Is that his defense mechanism?
HANNA: Look at this. It goes into a ball. They have three bands, one, two, three. You have nine banded armadillos from our country. From America and Mexico. You have a hairy armadillo -- One, two, three, maybe he grew an extra one. From Brazil, right? Aren't they a unique animal. That's a little male, you can tell. That's a little male armadillo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like to see animals ...
HANNA: You don't like to see ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like to see animals faces at me.
HANNA: This goes back to the dinosaur era.
KING: They lived with dinosaurs.
HANNA: In one form or another. Years ago. You can smell the odor on him, too. You smell it? He's not going to hurt you.
KING: All right. We'll get a break and come back with remaining moments with more animals of North America. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with our remaining moments with the animals of North America. What better animal to kick off this proceeding than the reindeer.
HANNA: Guys, this is a reindeer or a caribou. You see up in the Northwest Territory, up towards the North Pole, thousands of caribou come down in migration. Isn't it gorgeous. Look at their feet. You know Santa Claus has reindeer, right? Comes on your roof.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can he fly?
HANNA: The click, click, click. You hear that? Those, Larry, are his tendons clicking on his hooves. The only animal in the world, population has fur on his nose to keep it warm and they also have, I can't remember on their lips.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have like little papules on their lips that help them to get the itty bitty moss that they eat.
HANNA: They eat lichen and moss. They eat lichen and moss. Plus, it's the only deer species also where both the male and female has antlers. The male loses his antlers in November and the female in March or April.
KING: They are a deer species. Do you have a question, Chance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you make her fly?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is just a baby so she is just learning. She has been practicing getting into ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer had a very shining nose and if you ever saw it you would even know it glows all the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names (SINGING)
KING: OK, guys.
HANNA: Don't touch this. This is poisonous. This is a Gila monster. It is basically a lizard, right David. He lives in the desert around here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of two poisonous lizards in the whole world. They both live in the same place. One is called the beaded lizard and this is called the Gila monster because it's from the Gila River area.
KING: Beautiful color.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Isn't it gorgeous.
HANNA: They have to chew on you, right, David, to poison?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, they do. There is a lot of myths that surround these guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is it not poisoning you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know why? I'm not going to let him chew on me. That is pretty much what it is. That is just creative handling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if they chew on you that's how they get poisoned?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have little grooves in their teeth and poison comes down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I pet him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you have to go to the hospital if it bit you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. It would make you a bit sick. It won't kill you or anything but it would make you sick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But if you pet it it won't make ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not on his back. It's just a lizard.
HANNA: If you are in the wild you want to leave them alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
HANNA: No. No. Don't mess with that thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get you out of school?
KING: The most famous animal of all. The true American animal. The bald eagle. Who by the way is not bald.
HANNA: Shh. This is really neat, guys. What you are seeing here is our national bird.
KING: This is our national bird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I told you. I told you already it is on a coin.
HANNA: You're right. It is on a coin. Thank you. Look at that head guys. When the eagle is first born or hatched it gets that big in less than 12 weeks. No. Don't do that. In 12 weeks. It gets a white head and tail at three to four years.
Can you imagine that? Does not get the white head -- See those talons. Look at her hand there. You know what happened to you, Chance, you guys, Luke, if that animal got on your hand like that. See her glove? You know what would happen? That animal would break your and in two, your bone, like that. Because it is that powerful. Thousands of pounds of pressure in those talons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would I fly on me?
HANNA: You don't want that bird to fly you on you.
This one has been injured. The Jacksons have about 10 that the federal government ...
KING: This is the American bird.
HANNA: The American bald eagle. Our national emblem and I'll tell you, you can see why? Isn't he magnificent?
A lot of people, Larry, sorry to say, some are still shot. Power lines. Other problems. It also has come back very well. It was on the endangered species list. It shows you that list works. It's come back very well.
KING: All right. Let's thank everybody involved. We thank Chance and Cannon and Luke for coming aboard and helping.
Of course, Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, and the people who worked with him tonight, David, Anita, Missy and to the Conservation Ambassadors and Steve as well, and Zoo To You, all of whom participated in this edition of LARRY KING LIVE as we salute Jack Hanna and the animals. Thanks for joining us. Thanks to Greg and our whole crew as well. Stay tuned for Anderson Cooper and "AC 360" and good night.
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