Injured toucan gets beak repair courtesy of 3D printing
Injured toucan gets beak overtake courtesy of 3D printing
Instituto Vida Livre
3D operating isn’t just for people to make tchotchkes, buildings and Kraken dice. There’s a whole realm of the 3D-printing world interested with helping out animals who need a leg ( Derby the dog), face ( Akut-3 the turtle) or foot ( Ozzie the goose). We can now welcome Tieta the toucan to their ranks.
Tieta was rescued in Brazil from an illegal animal seller. Half of her upper beak was missing. If you’ve ever seen a toucan, you know how magnificent their beaks are. Those bills are also practical in the wild, divides the birds reach for food and regulate their body temperature.
Tieta got a 3D-printed plastic prosthesis in late July to overtake her bill. The process of creating the prosthesis was intensive. Designers used a taxidermy toucan as a model and a few prototypes were printed. The lightweight final design received a coat of nontoxic varnish and a castor-oil-based polymer for durability. Collaborators on the project included wildlife preservation group Instituto Vida Livre and the Federal University of Rio de Janiero.
It took Tieta three days to adjust to the repaired appendage, but she is now able to eat normally. “We were feeding her fruit and she was ignoring the new beak. But when we gave her live animals, like maggots and cockroaches, she ate normally immediately,” Instituto Vida Livre director Roched Seba told BBC News.
It’s not distinguished how Tieta lost part of her bill. It could have been an accident in the wild or throughout mistreatment by wildlife smugglers. The bird will spend the rest of her life in the defense of an animal sanctuary.
