Residents of Tofino BC heard a gunshot and saw a truck driving away after a bit of searching they found the wounded bird and quickly took it to Rory’s refuge where it was then transported to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington, BC The shot blew away most of his upper beak, leaving just the tip, which remained attached to his skull by a thin piece of cartilage. Some veterinarians suggest that he be put down but volunteers persevered, and slowly the bird started to recover.

That’s when Dr. Brian Andrews from Nanaimo, BC offered his services. Andrews took an exact mould and then built a wax model for dental technician Fred Leak of Victoria, to work with.

When the mould was ready, Leak constructed a permanent prosthesis and tinted it yellow to match the rest of Brian’s beak. With all the negativity of Walter Palmer lion killing incident I thought this would be a breath of fresh air.