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Beauty Restored, Temporarily

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The Associated Press

Published: June 7, 2008

ST. MARIES, Idaho - More than three years after a poacher shot off her upper beak, a bald eagle named Beauty can finally live up to her name - with the help of volunteers.

A team attached an artificial beak to the 15-pound eagle in mid-May, improving her appearance and, more importantly, helping her grasp food.

"She's got a grill," joked Nate Calvin, the Boise engineer who spent 200 hours designing the complex beak.

The "grill" was some metal exposed when a bit of the synthetic beak broke off during application. That beak is only a temporary fix, to nail down precise measurements.

A final beak made of tougher material will be created and attached later, though her saviors don't plan to release her into the wild. They say that she has spent too much time with humans, and the final beak won't be strong enough to tear flesh from prey.

Getting this artificial beak now was key to Beauty's survival. A wild eagle that must be hand-fed by humans would eventually have to be euthanized, especially because her life span could run four more decades, said Jane Fink Cantwell, who took Beauty to her raptor recovery center in Idaho two years ago.
Cantwell estimated that money and donated services worth $100,000 have gone toward Beauty so far, and the figure could more than double before the final beak is attached.

Two weeks after the beak was applied, "Beauty continues to do very well and we remain guardedly optimistic for her future," Cantwell said.

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