Andrew Pask

'De-extincting' the Moa: The audacious bid to bring back the giant bird

There was a time, not so long ago in geological terms, when the forests of New Zealand shook under the weight of something enormous. The moa, flightless, featherless on its neck, standing taller than a basketball hoop, wandered those islands for millions of years before humans arrived and, within a few centuries, hunted it into silence. The largest species stretched past three metres.