Valley native to appear on reality television show

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – Jeremy Kirby can’t say much about how he spent a particular two weeks this year, but he can say it was the best time of his life.

“Looking back, it’s one of the greatest things I will do with my life,” he said.

Kirby, a 1997 graduate of Mount Si High School and the son of Snoqualmie City Councilman and Chief Kanim Middle School teacher Dick Kirby, was one of 12 contestants who participated in a reality television show for Animal Planet called “King of the Jungle.” The show, which pits contestants against each other in challenges involving animals, was filmed over two weeks in August and September (location is undisclosed) and starts airing next week.

“It was described to us a cross between ‘Survivor’ and ‘Crocodile Hunter,'” he said.

Kirby said the show was a chance in a lifetime for an animal lover like himself.

After graduating from Mount Si, Kirby went on to Western Washington University (WWU) to study biology. He got zoo keeping internships in Hawaii, Texas and Washington after leaving WWU, and then got his first full-time job at the Phoenix Zoo. While working in Phoenix, one of his colleagues told him about trying out for a reality show Animal Planet was going to film. Kirby sent in an application and a video of footage of himself at all his internships.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record