Story highlights Researchers use 3D printer to replace toucan's beak

The project took a couple of months to fashion the new beak

(CNN) When you're a toucan, you need your beak. It's a pretty important part of your identity.

Tieta was a toucan with a big problem. She was missing about half of her upper beak.

Thanks to some resourceful researchers in Brazil, Tieta now has a new beak, printed on a 3D printer.

Federal Police found her at an animal fair in Rio de Janeiro and took her to the Free Flight Institute for help.

Roched Seba, who headed up the project to fabricate a new beak for Tieta, told CNN affiliate TV Globo that he believes she was mistreated by wildlife traffickers.

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