Birder from the scandalous incident in Central Park gets his own bird show

Christian Cooper could have remained a rather anonymous former Marvel Comics editor and bird watcher if not a high – profile event in Central Park in New York in 2020. When Cooper, a black man, asked a white woman named Amy Cooper (no relative) to tow her dog to an area where a leash was required, she called 911 and said an “African-American” was threatening her. His video went viral and Amy Cooper lost her job and betrayed her dog.

Christian Cooper will now host a birdwatching show for National Geographic television called The Extraordinary Birder.

“Lifelong birdie Christian Cooper will take us to the wild, beautiful and unpredictable world of birds in his new show The Extraordinary Birder,” the network tweeted.

“Whether you’re battling stormy seas in Alaska for puffins, hiking in the rainforests of Puerto Rico for parrots, or climbing the Manhattan Bridge for a stray falcon,” [Cooper] do what it takes to learn about these extraordinary feathered creatures and show us the wonderful world in the sky above. ” network says in a statement.

No premiere date for Extraordinary Birder has been announced. According to The New York Times, the show will be broadcast on one of the channels of National Geographic or Disney Plus. There are six planned episodes.

Cooper told the Times he was “all in” when he first heard about the show.

“I love spreading the gospel to the birds,” he told the newspaper. He also said that he hoped the show would encourage viewers to “stop, watch and listen and really start appreciating the absolutely spectacular creatures we have among us.”

His Twitter account regularly reports bird sightings in and around Central Park.

As for the 2020 incident, the Times notes that Christian Cooper had a “thoughtful, measured” reaction.

“I don’t excuse racism,” he told Amy Cooper, who called her race in her call to 911. “But I don’t know if her life had to be torn apart.”