As readers of the story of the hare and the tortoise will know, the tortoise always wins in the end.

And just like his counterpart in the famous fable, Freddy the tortoise is something of an underdog.

The plucky tortoise survived a bush fire in Brazil, but unfortunately his shell was badly damaged.

But a team of animal rescuers and surgeons made him a new one and Freddy is now the owner of the world’s first 3D-printed shell.

It was built by The Animal Avengers in Sao Paulo, who designed the replacement shell for Freddy based on images taken of the tortoise.

Designer Cicero Moraes, said: “Freddy was the first tortoise in the world to receive a fully rebuilt hull and the first creature that we, as a newly formed group of animal rescuers, decided to help.

“To design the hull I took a series of pictures from all angles of Freddy as well as photos of a healthy tortoise to compare.

“Then I reconstructed a 3D computer imaging model of the complete shell using the tortoise’s exact measurements.”

The design was sent to dental surgeon Dr Paulo Miamoto who used a 3D printer to construct the four-piece shell.

The Animal Avengers have already made artificial beaks for toucans, a parrot and a goose.