The Sad Ballad of Snake Bite Jones

The man to the right of the pelican above is Bryan Vorster, a South African animal handler who loves to edutain the kids. Under the nom de scène Snake Bite Jones, he's long been a fixture at the Johannesburg Zoo, where he thrills audiences by trotting out a vast array beasts—including the vultures used in such cinematic gems as Lord of War and Blood Diamond. "We need to teach children to love animals," he insists, which perhaps explains why he continues to soldier on despite having been...