In 2005 a poacher shot Beauty the bald eagle in the face and
left her to die. With her upper beak nearly gone, she could neither eat nor
drink. Fortunately animal rescuers found her before she starved to death. Birds
of Prey Northwest of St. Marie’s, Idaho nursed her back to health with a
feeding tube. When a bird’s beak cracks, it can be repaired much like a broken
tooth. But a lost beak will never grow back. Boise mechanical engineer Nate
Calvin learned about Beauty during a Birds of Prey educational presentation he
attended with his two daughters. He enlisted the help of other engineers,
scientists and even a dentist to design a nylon polymer piece to replace what
Beauty has lost. The 3-D printed prosthesis can’t be anchored securely enough
for Beauty to be released to the wild, but she can eat, drink and preen on her
own.
No comments:
Post a Comment