About Jackie

Hi, I’m Jackie Hanrahan!

As a passionate animal lover, I fell in love with Sheila and Dave Siddle, the co-founders of Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, on my first visit.  Chimfunshi is the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary located in Zambia.  Jane Goodall called Chimfunshi “the most wonderful place on earth!”  My love for wildlife and the oasis Sheila and Dave created at Chimfunshi motivated me to spread the heart-warming story of the bond between Sheila and Billy—the orphaned hippo Sheila raised.

While sharing Billy’s story, my goal is to have Billy introduce children to all her animal friends at Chimfunshi and beyond.  I started Happy Hippo Billy as a way to share my love for animals and to encourage children to discover the wonderful world of animals and endear them to the animal kingdom in a fun, engaging way.

My Happy Hippo Billy project introduced me to writing, publishing and the ever-changing world of social media.  As they say, everything happens for a reason!  I co-authored and published, Happy Hippo Billy.  Designed, created and launched HappyHippoBilly.com.  And, I’m thrilled to announce that due to taking the Social Media course at Columbia University, Happy Hippo Billy is Ms. Social Media!