Toucan fits the bill , or rather the bill fits the Toucan

The Toucan in question was rescued from an animal fair in Rio de Janeiro where it was kept in a small cage and was missing the top part of her beak , the rescuers believe the bird was in the process of being trafficked.

The rescuers along with three Brazilian universities set to work in designing a replacement beak for Tieta the Toucan which was then 3D printed and successfully fitted , now after a couple of days adjusting to her new bill Tieta is eating normally and on the road to recovery.

Taciana Sherlock from the Brazilian wildlife control agency Ibama said the toucan was rescued in March, malnourished and missing its beak.
Black-beaked toucans like Tieta, which are native to Rio and not endangered, can cost up to $5,000 (£3,180) when sold legally, according to Ms Sherlock.
She says that before the surgery Tieta was using the lower part of the beak to throw food into the air and trying to grab it.
She only succeeded once in every three attempts.

"It took her three days to realise she had it again," says Instituto Vida Livre Director Roched Seba.
"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," he explains.
"I believe she had that kind of food when she was free, before losing the beak. So it activated a core memory," he adds.
It took researchers three months to design the beak but it took only two hours for the printer to print it. - the beak weighs approximately 4g and it is 4cm (1.6in) long.
www.bbc.co.uk...

Heartwarming.

a reply to: gortex

What a great story!

I haven't heard too many stories about these printers, but this is a GREAT use of one!

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

There have been a couple of stories of animals being helped using 3D printing over the last year or so , there was one not so long ago of a turtle who had lost part of its beak due to an incident with a boat propeller , he had a printed replacement fitted too , I believe that operation was also a success.

I agree with you it's good to see our tech being used to help these animals and restore some of the damage done , now if only we could stop causing the damage and have a bit more respect for our fellow creatures.