Injured bald eagle gets new 3-D printed beak

[Texasgal]

Sometime in 2005, Beauty the bald eagle was shot in the face by a poacher, which damaged her beak badly enough that she couldn’t eat on her own. Animal rescue workers found her before she starved to death, and volunteers at the nonprofit group Birds of Prey Northwest nursed her back to health via tube-feeding and, later, hand-feeding with forceps. But it became increasingly clear that her beak was never going to grow back — meaning that Beauty would never be able to feed herself. She was on track to be euthanized.

But raptor specialist Jane Fink Cantwell, who dresses like Indiana Jones, refused to take “dead bald eagle” for an answer. She joined forces with mechanical engineer Nate Calvin of Kinetic Engineering Group, and together with other scientists, engineers, and even a dentist, they designed a nylon polymer beak that would perfectly replace Beauty’s lost upper mandible.

Calvin developed the new beak using a 3-D modeling program, then used a 3-D printer to fabricate it. After an arduous procedure to attach her prosthetic, Beauty was able to eat, drink, and preen herself on her own.

http://grist.org/list/injured-bald-eagle-gets-new-3-d-printed-beak/

Cool story! :cheers:

[Kablooie]

1. Pretty cool. I'd recommend taking a look at the video at the link.

[shireen]

4. yes! i agree

I really liked it, and the procedure to attach the beak was fascinating.

[CatWoman]

9. it made me cry

[Mojorabbit]

22. Same here. nt

[Auntie Bush]

2. Now that is wonderful and probably just the beginning of what we can do in the future.

I followed the Decorah Eagles and fell in love with them...so this was a very touching story/video for me.

[niyad]

3. what a wonderful story. I truly hope the bastard who shot her ends up shooting himself--like

that guy who shot himself in the penis or something just the other day? or worse.

[avebury]

5. K&R nt

[frylock]

6. they're still trying to find a reliable method of affixing the device..

if you follow the guardian link, there's an update in which they state that the prosthetic has been detached. cool story to be sure.

[Firebrand Gary]

7. What an amazing story!

I got weepy after the attachment of the new beak, when she cried out!

[jerseyjack]

8. Regarding the piece of shit that shot her... makes you angry?

he has companions..

Check out the sick fucks at the pigeon shoots in Bensalem, Pa.

sharkonline.org

[undergroundpanther]

14. I HATE trophy hunters,poacher assholes and the

pathetic POS who do caged/canned hunts.

If you gonna hunt eat ,what you kill,use it well for that animal gave it's life. And if you are fighting a bear or a cougar to survive,if one makes a trophy of such a traumatic triumph,than by all means,because it almost took your life.

[catchnrelease]

10. Update:

"Beauty continues to thrive under our care without her upper beak. The new growth pushed out the hardware which anchored the prosthetic beak. Recently the small amount of new growth has allowed Beauty to do something she has not been able to do since her injury-eat independently. We have constructed a special feeding platform for her and she now feeds herself!

We are looking to the future as we measure her minute growth and construct a new plan of attachment. Construction of the beak is the easy part, it is the attachment that is the challenge.

Recently, her 2008 procedure videoed by a Seattle news team, was made available on Vimeo and we have had lots of inquiries. Some have suggested that Beauty has a much greater educational impact WITHOUT her beak. When the prosthetic was in place, her story is lost at first glance. Time will tell whether she goes through life with or without a beak.

In the meantime, she will remain in north Idaho under my care where she is cherished and well cared for."

[burrowowl]

11. WoW!

Keep us updated!

And welcome to DU!

[undergroundpanther]

12. about time humans

started helping wildlife live a little better with technology.After all we are destroying habitat,the food chain rivers etc. People make prosthetics for themselves its time we shared it with non-human survivors of human violence..Go U Eagle!

[Historic NY]

13. What a wonderful thing to do...kudos to all that saved her.

[Sanity Claws]

15. The article is worth reading,

not only because of the story but because the author sees the story as a metaphor for contemporary America:

I’ve seen so many bald eagles crying a single tear over terrorism or gay marriage or whatever that it’s really hard not to interpret this as some kind of metaphor about America. Ruined by guns, kept alive by nonprofits, technology comes to the rescue? Sure, I think it works.

[joeybee12]

16. Hooray for Beauty and her rescuers!

[Omaha Steve]

17. K&R!

[Helen Reddy]

18. Thank you for this story!

(((((Beauty))))

I was driving along the other day in beautiful Wisconsin over a river and behold! flying just ahead of my car was this majestical, bald eagle. Watching her fly for as long as I could, she never flapped her wings, not once.

Indeed, with all of this technology humans have developed in order to kill, maim, or destroy, this.....is truly heartwarming.

[Autumn]

19. Wonderful story

a true American Beauty.

[Tigress DEM]

20. My husband's "Maker Group" has a 3 D printer at their Hack Factory.

Nothing on the scale of the model that did the 3D beak for the Eagle, though. It extrudes plastic from a computer design and can make little items.*** They were quite excited when they got it.

I think they may have won it in a competition held by MAKE Magazine which they are loosely affiliated with. Each Maker group used to have to pull themselves together financially etc... recently there are more opportunities for guidance in those areas.

Engineers, free spirits, free thinkers, geeks and crafters all welcome
http://www.tcmaker.org/wiki/doku.php


***
http://www.tcmaker.org/wiki/doku.php
current shop equipment
3D printer computer with Replicator G and MeshMixer

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. nice!