Wild eagle in Greece gets high-tech bionic leg

A young female eastern imperial eagle has been given a second chance after being fitted with a prosthetic leg developed using 3D printing technology in Greece.

Found injured on the island of Kythira in 2025, the bird’s right leg was amputated after a fracture, leaving few hopes for its survival in the wild.

It was a stressful first for veterinarian Grigorios Markakis at the Greek wildlife rescue organization ANIMA, where the eagle was treated and is now receiving physiotherapy for its rehabilitation.

Markakis, who consulted vets in Abu Dhabi, Bulgaria and London for the procedure, said as a breeding female of a threatened species, it was even more crucial to save the young bird, which underwent three operations.

The limb, made from a titanium implant and prosthesis fitting the bird’s anatomy, was designed at Bio3Dtech,  a Greek-German team of engineers and veterinarians. Although the company has made animal prosthetics for dogs and cats, even a donkey, it was the first time they created a limb for a bird.

Although the eagle can fly, it cannot return to the wild, as the talons on the prosthetic limb cannot be used to hunt, which is crucial for birds of prey. And if the limb is damaged in the wild, there would be no one to maintain and repair it, said Markakis.

Physiotherapy involved the same treatments used on humans, such as electrotherapy, acupuncture, and exercises, but dealing with a wild animal was much harder than house-trained pets that will obey commands, said physiotherapist Danae Thanopoulou, and food treats were not as successful to entice the fussy bird to follow instructions and stop twitching and snapping.

The bird has had the bionic limb for four months but the rehabilitation process will be long, said Markakis. The eagle first viewed the leg as a foreign object, and until it regains muscle strength, balance, and walks comfortably, it will remain at the organization’s clinic in Athens.

Once treatment is complete the bird is to be sent to a facility abroad to take part in a breeding program to contribute to the reproduction of the species.

Eastern imperial eagles exist in various parts of the world including Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

According to the European Commission the world population has only a few thousand breeding pairs, and the species is categorized as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

EU conservation programs seek to preserve the threatened species, which has faced man-made dangers such as power lines, poison, shootings and vehicle accidents.