Eagle shot in the face gets 3D-printed beak

Thanks to 3D printing, a bald eagle that was shot in the face by a poacher in 2005 is getting a helping hand —or beak— at getting her life back to normal.

 

Researchers, engineers and dentists teamed up to create the world’s first prosthetic beak for Beauty the bald eagle, tech site Mashable reported.

 

"Without it, she couldn’t feed herself, and likely would have died in the wild," the Mashable article said.

 

But while Beauty can now eat and drink by herself, Mashable said she is not yet ready to be released into the wild.

 

For now, Beauty will stay at Birds of Prey Northwest, the conservation facility that headed the recovery project, Mashable said.

 

The team that made the beak used computer-aided design (CAD) software and nylon polymers to print the beak.

 

It took the team two hours to graft the beak on Beauty, the report added. — TJD, GMA News