So Cranes May Dance: A Rescue from the Brink of Extinction

Cranes are grand and beautiful birds. They have long graceful bodies, which they lift to the sky in elegant, flawless flight. Mates dance together, springing lightly from the ground, wings outstretched. Their rhythmic unison calls are nature's trumpets. They are among the most magnificent and intriguing birds on earth, and seven of their fifteen species are endangered.
Twenty years ago, two young ornithologists named George Archibald and Ronald Sauey established the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, to save these spectacular birds. So Cranes May Dance tells the fascinating story of these two men and their foundation, and in the process it reveals what conservationists can - and must - accomplish.
Their goals are ambitious but critical: to save the many endangered species of cranes, to educate the world about the beauty and importance of the birds, and to restore the precious wetlands where the cranes dwell. As they begin their work, their financial resources are almost nil, and their crane population consists of two blind white-naped cranes, two crippled red-crowned cranes, and three sandhill crane chicks, but what they lack in practical assets, they make up for in sheer energy, a mutual deep regard for the environment, and the ability to recruit others to their cause, both in the United States and abroad.
Along the course many dramatic episodes occur, some full of fanfare and celebration, others poignant and even tragic. A herpesvirus wipes out one crane after another and threatens to dissolve the foundation; an earnest volunteer takes a challenging trip to Moscow to transport four invaluable wild Siberian crane eggs back to Wisconsin; the first black-necked crane ever hatched in the United States momentously arrives; and ICF finally manages to get temperamental Tex, one of the world's rarest whooping cranes and a bird who will only dance with humans, to lay a fertile egg.
In the world of discouraging environmental statistics, powerful enemies of conservation, geographic and political obstacles, and a common lack of understanding about animals and their needs, So Cranes May Dance is a vital success story.

This is the story of the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wis., and its founders. Twenty years ago as graduate students in ornithology at Cornell, Ron Sauey and George Archibald dreamed of saving endangered species of cranes and preserving wetlands. They started modestly, with a lease of the family farm from Sauey's parents and the acquisition of some blind and crippled birds. Katz, a contributor to Bird Watcher's Digest and Birder's World , follows the fortunes of the fledgling organization through its growing pains to its emergence as a major force in conservation. It is a captivating account of setbacks and triumphs. A virus killed 22 birds in two weeks and there was a devastating raccoon invasion. But ICF had notable success in artificial insemination and raising cranes in captivity. One of the highlights is the search for wintering Siberian cranes and the transport of fertile eggs from Russia to Baraboo, an example of true international cooperation.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An uneven history of the International Crane Foundation (ICF) and its efforts to save the world's cranes, by biologist/writer Katz (Bird Watcher's Digest, etc.--not reviewed). Katz chronicles the ups and downs of the ICF, founded in 1973 by two graduate students at Cornell, George Archibald and Ron Sauey, and dedicated to researching crane biology and behavior; conserving crane habitats; propagating captive cranes; restocking wild crane populations; and teaching the public about these birds. Sauey's parents provided the land--a farm in Wisconsin--and the initial financial backing. By 1976, the ICF was home to 14 of the 15 species of cranes in the world and had established an international reputation. In 1978, however, an outbreak of herpes killed many of the foundation's cranes, raising questions about the ways the birds were being cared for. Subsequently, the ICF was reorganized and emerged as a better managed, more financially secure foundation. But Katz provides few details on that most traumatic period in the ICF's history. Moreover, her humans are two-dimensional; it's only her cranes that come alive. While, on the page, Archibald and Sauey remain shadowy personalities, Tex--the nine-year-old whooping crane that thinks she's human and that Archibald dances with to bring into breeding condition--is a memorable character. Meanwhile, Katz's descriptions of the ICF's artificial-insemination program and of how chicks are parented by costumed humans are especially engaging. If increasing public awareness of the plight of cranes is the author's aim, she succeeds--but as a history of a conservation foundation, her text is full of gaps and often dull. The ICF story is wooden--but the cranes dance. (Color & b&w photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.