One of Baltimore's residents will soon become a national television celebrity!  On January 22, the National Aquarium's very own Margaret traveled from Baltimore to New York City to be featured as a guest during a taping of The Martha Stewart show.  Margaret was also joined by Liz Evans, Manager of Animal Training for the National Aquarium, because she is a little different than the typical guests of most talk shows: Margaret is a Hyacinth Macaw, an endangered species of bird now found in the Pantanal region of Brazil. The show airs February 10, on WBAL (Ch 11) at 11:00 am. Animal trainer Beth Lindenau and Margaret will also be on WBAL's evening news between 5-6 pm. As part of a joint venture between the National Aquarium and the Maryland Zoo, Margaret and Liz appeared on a segment of the show to speak about endangered birds.  Once inhabiting several countries in South America, the Hyacinth Macaws numbers were reduced due to the usual factors of habitat loss and conversation of land for agricultural use and cattle farming. The Hyacinth Macaw Project is dedicated to saving these birds with an educational program involving local farmers in the Pantanal region of Brazil.  The project has been a great success: the population more than doubled in the first ten years of the project, with 3,000 birds reported in the year 2,000.  The population has now grown to more than 5,000 birds. By representing her species at the National Aquarium and, now, on national television, Margaret is doing a great job in raising awareness about endangered birds and many other types of endangered animals.  Visitors can see Margaret and the many animal ambassadors at the National Aquarium in one of our many animal encounters.  Check the daily listings to learn when these are scheduled!  To learn more about wild Hyacinth Macaws and the effort to save them, visit Parrots International at www.parrotsinternational.org.

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endangered-species, hyacinth-macaw, maryland-zoo, the-martha-stewart-show

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