Around 800 people, children and parents included, gathered at the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum on June 27 and June 28, setting their eyes and ears on Jim Fowler, co-host of the original Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom,” and his creepy-crawly, furry animal and reptile friends.
“Some animals, you’ll say ‘Yuck!’; others, you won’t know what to say around, and around certain animals you’ll say ‘Aww,’” Fowler told the audience before his show.
The list of animals included a snow monkey, alligator, albino Burmese python, a kinkajou, fennec fox, and hamadryas baboon. Fowler taught the children where each member of the wildlife is from, and encouraged them to learn more on their own and share their knowledge with others.
“You must respect the natural world and be a spokesperson for the natural world,” Fowler said. As someone who said he respects and appreciates scientific research, Fowler suggested children take up activities which would draw them outside, including camping, hunting, fishing and canoeing.
Brandon Johnston, 8, got excited when the snake slithered around. The second-grader said he also liked the monkey, and had last seen wild animals on a trip to the Bronx Zoo.
Many of the children were able to hold the snake, and commented that it’s “cold” and “feels scaly.”
“I lost three rows of students at a school the other day,” Fowler said, noting that he was impressed by how composed and brave the children were being.
He was delighted to see not only the kids’ faces, but also amazed at how one young girl had a replica of one of his own animals. Emily Naccarato, 7, had a small stuffed fennec fox, which she purchased at the museum before the show. Fowler put the live fox near the toy fox, to see if it could recognize it. Naccarato said she bought the stuffed fox because it’s “cute.”
Fowler’s fun and interactive presentations were brought to the Hudson Valley by Mutual of Omaha, which is represented locally by Chris Drouin, founder of Beyond Wealth Management.
Fowler said he recently had the opportunity to speak to 1,500 children and adults in Washington, D.C., on a range of topics including saving the ocean. He’s said he’s working on an initiative that includes the designing of ecological parks, and he noted the need for more open space in the U.S.
A celebrity on many accounts on-and-off-screen, Fowler said that in addition to his work on “Wild Kingdom” on Animal Planet, he has appeared in an episode of “Seinfeld” and even spent time on the set of “Gorillas in the Mist” starring Sigourney Weaver. While on the set, Fowler said he sustained a knee injury from “overdoing it” by sliding up and down trails, he said. He also told the children that he was charged by a gorilla once, and told them that if they ever find themselves in that situation, they should play dead and avoid direct eye contact.