Injured bald eagle gets beak job

The bald eagle is relatively common in British Columbia

A bald eagle found on Canada's Vancouver Island with its beak almost completely shot off by a rifle has had reconstructive surgery - thanks to a local dentist.

Brian Andrews, a dentist in the town of Nanaimo, in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, says the eight-kilogram bird is now ripping bits of salmon to pieces again with his new beak.

The whole top of his beak was shot away

Brian Andrews
Dentist

The bald eagle has been named "Brian" after his dentist, who says he and his technician are still trying to perfect the artificial beak they moulded from the same acrylic material that athletic mouth guards are made of.

"The whole top of his beak was shot away, right to the front of his forehead, so it left him with the tip of his beak and his hard palate," Dr Andrews told CBC Radio.

"Sort of like someone took a rifle and shot you through the face, left the tip of your nose and your teeth and tore all your sinuses out."

Dr Andrews modelled the fake beak on a picture from the cover of National Geographic magazine, making it complete with air holes and even staining it yellow to make it look as natural as possible.

The bird was found near the town of Tofino, on the west side of Vancouver Island, by passers-by who wrapped it in a blanket and brought to a wildlife preserve.

There, it recuperated for two months before Dr Andrews got involved. Without the new beak, it would only able to eat small bits of food.

'Doing quite well'

Brian the bald eagle has had his artificial beak - attached with a stainless steel rivet - for three weeks.

Dr Andrews says he is now "doing quite well" and "tearing bits of salmon apart".

But it will be at least year before the bird is set free in the wild again - if ever.

"If he gets some decomposing meat between the appliance and his forehead, so to speak, there's no body to clean it for him and he might get a nasty wound," Dr Andrews said.

The 62-year-old dentist, who has been practising for almost 40 years, also waived all of the costs, which he estimated at more than C$1,000 ($640).