Fire-damaged Brazilian tortoise receives new 3D printed shell

A team of specialists in Brazil have designed a new 3D printed replacement shell for a tortoise whose armour was destroyed in a bushfire last year.

The self-titled “Animal Avengers” – a Sao Paulo-based volunteer team comprising four vets, a dental surgeon and a 3D designer – used 3D printing technology to help create a new shell for tortoise “Freddy”, after 85 percent of her original shell was damaged in a forest fire, GC Noticias reports.

Designer Cicero Moraes said he was able to design the new shell by comparing photos of other healthy turtles with those of the injured Freddy.

“I [then] reconstructed a 3D computer imaging model of the complete shell using the tortoise's exact measurements,” he told the Daily Mail.

The prosthesis, made of four interlocking pieces from corn-derived plastic, were then painted and assembled on the turtle’s back, restoring her to her former appearance.

Freddy – named after the fire-damaged character Freddy Krueger, of Nightmare on Elm Street fame – has since gone on to live in the care of Animal Avenger veterinarian Dr Rodrigo Rabello.

Her condition marks a significant improvement from when she was first found in a near-death state in 2015.

The Animal Avengers have previously provided their specialised 3D printing service for a range of other animals.

Their contributions include artificial beaks for toucans, a parrot and a goose.