x
Breaking News
More () »

Einstein, Zoo Knoxville's parrot, encourages blood donations for National Blood Donor Month

Zoo Knoxville will host the MEDIC Bloodmobile on Thursday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. where people can donate blood.

Einstein the Parrot and his handler, Adam Patterson, teamed up to encourage people to donate blood on Monday.

They posted a video where Adam chatted with Einstein about donating blood, encouraging others to donate too. January is National Blood Donor Month, and the MEDIC Regional Blood Center is hosting an event on Thursday at Zoo Knoxville, where people can donate.

Each donor will receive a free ticket for the zoo, officials said.

Einstein has developed a vocabulary of more than 200 words and sounds, according to officials. He is an African Grey Parrot, which are notorious for having advanced cognitive skills and for imitating sounds.

During the video encouraging people to donate blood, he imitates sounds like a crying baby, a howling woof and a chimpanzee.

"It's a lot of fun helping people out," Patterson said during the video. It ends with Einstein blowing viewers a kiss goodbye.

Before You Leave, Check This Out