Grecia, a Costa Rican toucan who was severely mutilated by thugs is going to get a second chance at living a normal bird’s life after four companies volunteered to create a prosthetic beak using a 3D printer.
The goal is to help the bird once again eat on its own accord, as it currently eats very little on its own and must subsequently dine with some assistance from Carmen Soto, the veterinarian at the Zoo Ave rescue center tasked with taking care of the injured toucan.
The four companies who have volunteered to help 3D-print the new bird prosthesis are:
- Elementos 3d
- Ewa!corps
- Publicidad Web
- Grupo Sommerus
Soto has advised those behind the design and creation of the beak to take into account that the prosthesis must be both lightweight as well as durable.
The bird was injured in the area from which it gets its name, Grecia. After the injured bird was discovered back in January, it was taken to an animal rescue center. Once the media saw it, reports began to circulate and the public’s outrage quickly became evident with the more than $3,000 raised in donations for the bird’s recovery via a social media campaign serving as proof of just how much some people care for this mutilated toucan’s well-being.
Laws which govern animal cruelty are largely non-existent in South America where the bird was beaten. Such a lack of laws makes prosecuting cases such as this one difficult.
The director of the Humane Society in Latin America, Cynthia Dent, said that in the past, the Society “would only hear about it when there was a case reported in the press” but now they have “outraged people” taking advantage of social media to highlight these cases of animal cruelty.
In other animal news reported on Inquisitr, the wolf known as “Echo” who became famous for traveling hundreds of miles to the Grand Canyon has died. DNA tests confirmed the wolf killed by a coyote hunter was indeed that of the famed Grand Canyon wolf.
