Toucan Gets a New 3D-printed Beak After Being Rescued From the Illegal Market
It’s one of those things that – cliche, I know – restores faith in humanity; but it’s not only that. What Instituto Vida Livre (a wildlife management group) and three Brazilian universities did for Tieta, a mutilated Toucan makes you love what science can do.
Found and rescued at a wildlife fair in Rio de Janeiro, Tieta was missing her upper beak. That meant she wasn’t able to eat on her own the whole time.
She had to rely on humans to feed her, and if she doesn’t get help, she starves. Another issue with her missing beak is that she wasn’t able to gain access to glands which are necessary to water-proof her feathers.
What the scientists did to help her was to create a prosthetic using plastic to create a 3D-printed beak attachment. This project took three months (to design and produce the 3D-printed beak), but is worth the world to the bird for sure. The procedure of putting on the beak itself took 40 minutes.
This is not the first time that people have been creative in helping animals in need. If you remember, back in December 2014, a vet helped a tortoise with a damaged leg by using LEGO bricks. Aren’t these people awesome?
