How humans in costumes teach whooping cranes to be cranes
CBC Docs | Posted: March 13, 2025 2:22 PM | Last Updated: March 13
The costumes help prevent cranes from imprinting on their human keepers
At the International Crane Foundation (ICF) headquarters in Baraboo, Wis., Marianne Wellington gets ready for work.
As a chick-rearing supervisor at the ICF, part of Wellington's job is to dress like a crane. Her costume includes a white robe to obscure her human features, a crane puppet on her hand and, in her pocket, a recording of a contact call that crane parents make for their chicks.
In the 1940s, whooping cranes were on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 20 left. Today there are more than 800. The ICF helped grow their numbers through conservation, breeding and reintroduction programs. That's where Wellington's team comes in: her role is crucial to the development and training of baby cranes for the wild.
"Cranes will imprint on their keepers, and so we try to do everything that we can to have a bird know that it's a bird, and not a human being in a funny costume," Wellington says in this clip from the documentary Dances With Cranes.
Where to watch Dances With Cranes
Watch now on CBC Gem and The Nature of Things YouTube channel.