Saturday, May 2, 2009

The Moa


While visiting the Auckland museum last month I was fascinated to see the replica of a gigantic bird called a moa, extinct since around 1500 A.D. Moas could stand as high as 12 feet and are the only known wingless birds to have ever existed. At least their demise cannot be blamed upon the European settlers; moas were extinct a century or so after the Polynesian
settlement of New Zealand. Yes, it seems that the Maoris found moa and moa eggs to be quite delectable, and had no scruples about eating them into nonexistence.

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5 comments:

May said...

What fascinating creatures!

elena maria vidal said...

Yes, indeed.

Anonymous said...

i remember reading about them with my daughter when she was around 4 years old...she called them "mowers". so thanks for the memory (she's a college freshman now)

elena maria vidal said...

Cute! I read some where that "mower" is actually the way it's pronounced!

Anonymous said...

well then, she's smarter than i thought :]