Profession: Veterinarian
Field: Wildlife Surgery/Disease

Dr. Jon Hanger, who has loved animals for as long as he can remember, was born with a passion for saving wildlife. He has been working professionally with Australian wildlife for the past 15 years, and is regarded as one of Australia's foremost koala experts. In 2003, he commenced working at the Koala and Wildlife Hospital at Australia Zoo with Steve Irwin. As senior veterinarian, Dr. Hanger has treated an extremely wide and diverse number of wildlife species.

Episode(s):

"Amazing Aussie Ops"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger treats a host of injured Aussie animals — an echidna with a broken forearm, a black flying fox with a broken wing, a bilby requiring a tail amputation, and an eastern water dragon with a broken leg. Dr. Hanger also performs emergency surgery on a green tree python with a prolapsed bowel, and rescues an eastern gray kangaroo that has been shot with an arrow. See the kangaroo's case study.

"Brothers"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger is extremely concerned about the deteriorating condition of Arjuna, one of Australia Zoo's Bengal tigers.

"False Eye"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger performs lifesaving surgery to remove a bladder stone from a critically endangered Fijian crested iguana, brings a koala back from the dead, removes a lump from the head of a woma python, and saves a pelican riddled with bullet wounds and a fishhook.

"Forensics"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger investigates a rapid population decline in an island colony of koalas in southern Australia.

"Grizzly"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger performs microsurgery on a frog, repairs a very lucky water dragon with horrible injuries, and takes blood from a nervous elephant.

"Tsunami"
In this episode, Dr. Hanger performs amazing "in-the-field" surgery on a camel with an infected lip, uses bolt cutters to repair a koala's broken leg, and removes a massive lump from the abdomen of a water python. See the koala's case study.

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