the Kiwi-bird,

Is the Moa related to the Elephant bird? The Elephant bird was about 800 lbs when grown up. You would be eating leftovers for the whole winter after Thanksgiving dinner. Try giving those cute little Kiwi birds some steroids

Originally posted by rickymouse
Is the Moa related to the Elephant bird? The Elephant bird was about 800 lbs when grown up. You would be eating leftovers for the whole winter after Thanksgiving dinner. Try giving those cute little Kiwi birds some steroids

the skeletal structure looks very similar,
thanks, i had never heard of an "elephant bird" they are certainly very similar.
wounder if they were cousins?

xploder

reply to post by XPLodER


How long ago did the Moa go extinct? I guess the last known elephant birds were wiped out on some island by the Spanish about the time of Columbus.

reply to post by rickymouse


Possibly not as long ago as we think if we take a few accounts of eye witness sightings of Moa. No one believes them when they crop up (and there hasnt been a sighting reported by the media in at least 15 years, last one was a photo from a family of tourists I think, boy did they get torn to shreds by detractors), which is a pity since having been in what id call 'domesticated' NZ Southland bush before, you could hide anything you wanted in 'proper' NZ bush and never find it, ever (which is something you have to experience to fully understand)... heck they recently found the wreckage of a plane that went missing years back in the Milford Sounds (Which also boasts a population of Moose, even with footage of them most people just laugh and say they arent there or how could they survive and not be seen by more!).



Moa segment starts at 6:10 , its a pretty old show now but still one of my favorite TV series. They sure dont make em like they used too... still cant watch and hear the music for Mysterious World without my heart rate going a few beats higher from the apprehension

I think we've had at least 2 'extinct' birds pop up back to life in the last decade in NZ... as for the Kiwi, this might be sacrilege but, I think their kinda pants as far as birds go I mean, its kind of a pointless animal really , just my own personal opinion (then again im half British, could be that)... ill go hand in my citizenship at the front desk .

Originally posted by XPLodER

Originally posted by aorAki
reply to post by XPLodER

 

We've got Moa bones with obvious eagle predation. It goes to follow that they would possibly have preyed on humans, but I'm not aware of any human bones found in aeries. they were big suckers, but died out when their main food source was hunted to extinction/became extinct.

its hard to imagine a more fearsome animal,
their cries must be deafening.

xploder

Megalania ate Moa's.... Anyway. There are still plenty of reports on animals like the Moa in new Zeland and from Dodo remnants in Mauritius islands. But i pass the Dodo, there's too many people living in such a small island. Now, the Moa. there's a good possibilitie on a very few remants back in 20 century:



Map of Moa sightings:

How long ago did the Moa go extinct? I guess the last known elephant birds were wiped out on some island by the Spanish about the time of Columbus

Around 600 years ago.

heck they recently found the wreckage of a plane that went missing years back in the Milford Sounds (Which also boasts a population of Moose, even with footage of them most people just laugh and say they arent there or how could they survive and not be seen by more!).

There are many animals know to science such as the Tibetan Blue Bear that were never caught alive or photographed due to the area they live. The Tibetan Blue Bear was discovered 260 years ago and no one ever found one alive.

Other animals like the Coeleacant are also rare due to the location they live. It's hard to find one alive.

reply to post by XPLodER


Its spelled Pukeko,
The bird in the second video is a Kakapo.

reply to post by XPLodER


Hapagornis moorei better known as Haast's Eagle or Pouakai, was the largest eagle to ever exist.
Yes they were big enough to be able to swoop down and snatch an adult Moa, and yes they deffinatly used to eat the early maori settlers.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast's_Eagle

reply to post by Frocharocha


There werent any Moa in Australia i think people are mistaking them for the Australian Emu...
"Megalania ate Moa's...." No, no they didnt. There were never Megalania in New Zealand.