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By Jonathanrex1
11/21/2009 - 16:29:52

Type: Creature
Rating: 0.04 (Not rated)
Tags: bird, cryptid, extinct, herbivore, moa, new zealand

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Description

The moa were ten species (in six genera) of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.7 m (12 ft) in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kg (510 lb). Moa are members of the order Struthioniformes (or ratites). The ten species of moa are the only wingless birds, lacking even the vestigial wings which all other ratites have. They were the dominant herbivores in New Zealand forest, shrubland and subalpine ecosystems for thousands of years, and until the arrival of the M?ori were hunted only by the Haast's Eagle. All species are generally believed to have become extinct by 1500 AD, mainly due to hunting by M?ori. Though scientists agree there is no doubt that moa are extinct, there has been occasional speculation?since at least the late 1800s, and as recently as 2008?that some moa may still exist, particularly in deepest south Westland, a rugged wilderness in the South Island. Cryptozoologists and others reputedly continue to search for them, but their claims and supporting evidence (such as of purported Moa footprints or blurry photos) have earned little attention from mainstream experts, and are widely considered pseudoscientific. Experts contend that moa survival is extremely unlikely, since this would involve the ground-dwelling birds living unnoticed in a region visited often by hunters and hikers. While the rediscovery of the Takah? in 1948 (after none had been seen since 1898), showed that rare birds may exist undiscovered for a long time, the Takah? was rediscovered after its tracks were identified?yet no reliable evidence of moa tracks has ever been found. The Takah? is also a much smaller bird.