That swan! (turning Nature into a machine)

[Doug Millison]

Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 11:57 PM
Subject: Swan gets bionic bill - Ananova Alerting


Sampson the swan has been given a bionic beak.

The man-made bill was fitted after his real one was cut off in a bottle
attack.

He faced being fed through a tube for the rest of his life after being
rescued by Maria Evans, who runs a bird rescue centre in Amroth, Wales.

Then she asked dentist Ed Hannaford to craft a plastic bill, believed to be
the first ever made.

It took him around 100 hours to build. Had he charged, man hours alone would
have cost £12,000.

An hour after it was fitted to what was left of his real beak,
eight-year-old Sampson was eating normally and giving his mate a peck. Ms
Evans told the Mirror: "It is a miracle. Sampson is now fighting fit."


See this story on the web at
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_358396.html