Dentist Gives Eagle New Beak, Waives Bill
Mon Aug 19, 7:58 AM ET
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A bald eagle that was left for dead after its beak was shot off is alive and tearing its prey to shreds again thanks to a Canadian dentist who fashioned an artificial bill out of acrylic denture material.
Now Dr. Brian Andrews is working to improve on the prototype, which is pinned to the tiny bit of beak left after the gun shot, so the 4-1/2-year-old bird of prey can one day return to the wild.
"Because this is new ground for us, and I'm new at this, we expect to make three or four or five or a even dozen until we get it right," Andrews said on Friday from his dental practice in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
"As a matter of fact, tomorrow I'm going up to fit the Mark II model, and we hope to make it even more successful."
He based the design, complete with breathing holes, on a picture of an eagle on a recent cover of National Geographic ( news - web sites) magazine as well as a dried beak specimen.
The director of the Vancouver Island wildlife preserve where the eagle is being cared for has named it Brian in the 62-year-old dentist's honor.
Two people found the injured bird on the roadside two months ago near the town of Tofino on the western coast of the island. Wildlife officials determined it had been shot out of a low tree limb that day with a high-powered rifle. It is not known why the eagle was targeted.
"It's not an unusual occurrence out here. We've got quite a number of eagles, and we have birds with legs gone and wings gone," Andrews said. "While we've been treating Brian there's been three others brought in with gunshot injuries."
The director of the preserve nursed the 18-pound (8- kilogram) bird back to health, but the soft, remaining nub of its bill prevented it from eating anything but small morsels.
Andrews formed a plaster impression of the remaining beak and took it to a dental technician, who made a replica out of orthodontic acrylic, the same material used to make some false teeth and mouth guards for hockey players, he said.
He stained the device yellow, to make it look realistic. The bird took to it immediately.
"He's tearing at his prey. When we first put it on, he gave us this nice, great big yawn and squawk, and we were quite thrilled that it stayed together," Andrews said.
The eagle can eat an entire fish, although concerns remain about food becoming lodged between the artificial beak and the skull, prompting the need for improved models.
Andrews is doing all the work free of charge.
"I'm fond of wildlife. I'm a carver and I make duck decoys as a hobby. I figured: I can carve a wooden beak, maybe I can make a plastic one for this guy," he said.
