海角大神

When animal rescuers found Grecia, a gravely injured Costa Rican toucan, they feared the worst.

Grecia鈥檚 upper beak had been beaten clean off. She was weak and unable to eat on her own. And her attacker wasn鈥檛 some jungle predator, but a group of humans. Then, a team of rescuers, activists and scientists banded together to give the bird a new beak 鈥� and a new shot at life.

Now, Grecia has become the face of a new legislative push to offer new protections for wild animals and harsher punishments for their abusers.

Most tropical birds could not survive without their beaks. Toucans use their large, curved bills to clean themselves, defend against predators, make mating calls and regulate body temperature. So when Grecia arrived at Rescate Animal Zoo Ave, a zoo and animal rescue center in Alajuela, Costa Rica, caretakers thought she would have to be euthanized.

But Grecia held on. So caretakers decided to find her a prosthetic beak, enlisting the help of dental and nanotechnology experts. 3D Systems, a 3D printing company from Rock Hill, S.C., volunteered to build the prosthetic. 聽

鈥淓verybody was working for free, all the group of scientists,鈥� filmmaker Paula Heredia, who tells Grecia鈥檚 story in the Animal Planet documentary 鈥淭oucan Nation,鈥� told NPR.

Zoo Ave caretakers decided not to paint the synthetic beak, which will remain a ghostly white reminder of Grecia鈥檚 past abuse.

Now, a large banner hangs over the entrance to Zoo Ave. Visitors are greeted by two photos of Grecia, taken before and after her recovery. The banner reads: 鈥淒igamos NO al maltrato animal.鈥� Say no to animal abuse.

In recent years, animal rights activists have had some success in influencing Costa Rican legislation. In 2012, the country passed a sweeping ban on sport hunting. But under current law, animal abusers are subject only聽to a small fine.

But now, galvanized by stories of Grecia鈥檚 plight, activists are rallying in support of a new anti-abuse bill. The law would impose harsher penalties to animal abusers, and offer new protections for wild animals.聽Last Sunday, activists marched through San Jos茅, petitioning for the bill's passage and chanting "no to animal abuse."

"Grecia motivated and moved our entire country to do more," animal rights activist Juan Carlos Peralta told NPR.

Costa Rica isn鈥檛 the only nation that has taken a tougher stance on animal abuse. In January, the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced that it would begin tracking animal cruelty crimes throughout the US. The move isn鈥檛 just a win for animal rights activists, but a new approach to preventative law enforcement: according to the New York Humane Association, up to 70 percent of people convicted of violent crimes began their criminal careers with animal cruelty.