Nui Nui, a female panda at an un-named zoo in China, is getting a new lease on life. Nui Nui lost her paw in a fight with three other pandas, and is having trouble feeding herself. She may also encounter problems when trying to mate. A team of scientists from the University of Salford in the UK are in the process of engineering a prosthetic leg for Nui Nui to ease her burdens and make her life a happier, easier one.
“We will only know the final design of the prosthesis once Nui Nui has been clinically assessed. However we envisage her prosthetic limb will feature a hook or false thumb enabling her to grab bamboo from the trees for food. We will engineer the leg so that it will bear her full body weight, allowing her to balance on all fours, whilst walking and standing.”
While she gets used to wearing a prosthetic, Nui Nui will be fitted with several dummy legs in case she tries to chew them off.
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