Dr. George Archibald has dedicated his life to saving cranes. His patience and dedication has brought whooping cranes, once critically endangered with only 15 left in the world, back from the brink of extinction.

More than 40 years ago, a whooping crane named Tex rejected her mate after “imprinting” on humans. Canes mate for life. Her genetic material was crucial to the survival of the species, but Tex didn’t recognize other Whoopers as kin. Archibald decided the only way to encourage Tex to breed was to dance with her like a male crane. After a few tries, it worked. Tex was artificially inseminated and she laid an egg. Her chick, Gee Whiz, is now the proud 35-year-old father of 24 offspring.

Archibald joins us to discuss his life’s work and also his famous appearance on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show.