Artis Zoo fits a hornbill with two 3D-printed beak prostheses — a world first
Southern ground hornbill gets 3D printed beak prostheses at Artis Zoo
An injured southern ground hornbill at Artis Zoo in Amsterdam lost the upper and lower parts of its beak and was managing on two stumps. A team from Artis, Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UMC Utrecht, and Amnovis used a CT scan and the preserved original beak to design titanium prostheses. The bird was using them the same day, and picked up a mouse the next morning.
He started using the prostheses on the day of the surgery. The following morning, he independently picked up a small mouse from the ground.