Beauty is an Alaskan bald eagle whose beak was shot off several years ago. She was found in 2005, unable to properly hunt or eat. She was taken to a refuge, but her beak did not grow back. Now she will get a new one!
The nylon-composite beak will be glued on, so it won’t be strong enough to rip flesh like a normal eagle, but will allow her to drink normally and eat food she is given. Link -via Digg
"For Beauty it's like using only one chopstick to eat. It can't be done" said biologist Jane Fink Cantwell, who operates a raptor recovery center in this Idaho Panhandle town. "She has trouble drinking. She can't preen her feathers. That's all about to change."
Cantwell has spent the past two years assembling a team to design and build an artificial beak. They plan to attach it to Beauty next month. With the beak, the 7-year-old bald eagle could live to the age of 50, although not in the wild.
"She could not survive in the wild without human intervention," Cantwell said.
The nylon-composite beak will be glued on, so it won’t be strong enough to rip flesh like a normal eagle, but will allow her to drink normally and eat food she is given. Link -via Digg
For Beauty, she's a lucky one. I hope Neatorama follows her progress.
With those two words L.C. you seem to poetically point out one of the "eternal truths" of humanity - and simultaneously place yourself in the "suck" section.