Scientists Plan To De-Extinct 12-Foot-Tall Moa Bird Gone For 600 Years

A company that says it has brought back the dire wolf has now shared plans to revive the moa, a giant bird that became extinct hundreds of years ago. The moa was a flightless bird that once lived in New Zealand and was much taller than humans, reported NYPost.

Plan To Revive An Extinct Bird

Colossal Biosciences said it is working with famous "Lord of the Rings" director Sir Peter Jackson to bring the moa back to life. Reports said the largest moa species was about 12 feet tall and weighed more than 500 pounds. The bird lived in New Zealand until it was hunted to extinction by Maori settlers around 600 years ago.

The Ngai Tahu Research Centre is overseeing and coordinating the project. The institute is working in partnership with the Maori tribe, the dominant tribe in New Zealand's South Island, and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch.

Ngai Tahu archaeologist Kyle Davis explained that many important species are part of tribal lore and traditional stories and are deeply connected to the community. He said that active participation in scientific research, species management, and conservation has long been a core part of their work.

Peter Jackson, an investor in Colossal Biosciences, said the moa revival initiative is linked to broader efforts to protect some of Aotearoa New Zealand's most endangered species for future generations. He also played a key role in involving the Ngai Tahu Research Centre in the project.

According to experts, reviving the moa is more difficult than bringing back the dire wolf. The dire wolf was revived using DNA from fossils and the genome of the gray wolf.

In contrast, the moa is far removed from its closest living relatives, which include the emu and the chicken-like bird called tinamou.

Scientists believe the dire wolf diverged from modern wolf-like creatures about 5.7 million years ago. The common ancestor of the moa and tinamou existed about 58 million years ago, while the common ancestor of the moa and emu existed about 65 million years ago.

During this long period, the moa developed several unique traits that are extremely difficult to replicate.

To achieve this goal, researchers plan to sequence and reconstruct the genomes of all nine extinct moa species. They will also prepare high-quality genomes of the moa's living relatives.

The team is working on a plan to develop a "surrogate bird" using living species, genetically altered to resemble the moa.

Scientists plan to insert the modified cells into a tinamou or emu embryo within an egg. The hope is that these cells will reach the embryo's reproductive organs, creating female moa eggs and male moa sperm. In theory, such birds could later reproduce and give birth to moa chicks.

Researchers are currently in the process of deciding which bird to choose as a surrogate. They believe the emu may be a better choice because, with its height reaching up to 6 feet 2 inches, it is closer to the size of a moa than the smaller tinamou.

However, scientists have pointed out another challenge: moa eggs are much larger than emu eggs, which could complicate the process of hatching a hybrid bird within an emu egg.