Conservationist George Archibald has spent his life working to bring cranes back from the brink of extinction.

His groundbreaking work has been recognized around the world and was even featured on "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson," which highlighted his extraordinary relationship with a crane named Tex.

Below, an extended interview with Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation in Barraboo, Wis.

Chicago Tonight: Why cranes? When and where did you interest begin?

George Archibald: My interest in cranes began when I was eight years old in a one-room classroom in Nova Scotia, Canada. There was a radio program about the discovery of the nesting grounds of the whooping crane in northern Canada. It was a dramatization, and the female crane was screaming that the airplane with observers had found their nesting areas – which previously were unknown. She said that soon the museum collectors would be there to shoot them. But her mate comforted her [by saying] that this was a protected area run by the Canadian government and that they were safe.

As a child, that program made a lasting impression. I followed the whooping crane story for years and eventually went to graduate school and studied crane behavior as my doctoral topic. I became aware of the endangered status of cranes worldwide and wanted to apply some of the things that had been done for whooping cranes in Canada and the U.S. to endangered cranes in Asia in particular, where there were so many endangered cranes at that time.

CT: When would this have been?

GA: This was 1954.

Below, a slideshow of cranes: