The experts with the Medical University of Vienna have announced the first ‘Bionic Bird’. Building on work previously, they are only seen in humans, the team implemented a permanent bionic tip in a bearded vulture, restoring its ability to walk and fly through a prosthetic foot. The procedure involved osseointegration, which involves joining the bionic limb directly to the skeleton.

Vultures and other large birds require that their legs survive; Without them, the bird will not be able to walk or fly, resulting in a slow death because of the lack of adequate foods. However, replacing the leg of a great bird is complicated, due to the loads applied to the prosthesis. However, this newly announced the bionic tip was able to restore the ability of the bird to walk, however, in a “first” for the field.

The bearded vulture, which is called Mia, comes from the owl and the sanctuary of the dam of the prey located in Lower Austria; The AVE had suffered severe standing damage that lead to amputation, eliminating its ability to survive in nature. That’s where the researchers enter.

The team explained in a new announcement that a special bionic attachment was created that could be implanted in the bone of the vulture on the stump where the amputation had occurred. This was the first time he had tried to use one of these prosthetic implants in a bird.

The prosthetic foot is attached to the bone implant, which makes it a permanent and flexible part of the limb. According to the researchers, the vulture was able to walk three weeks after surgery with the prosthesis with full load after six weeks. Fast forward until today and culture is capable of flying, landing on both feet, and walking as normal, making it a history of success.