Colossal has released a synthetic rendering of a giant moa from the South Island. (Image courtesy of Colossal Biosciences)
A biotech firm that claims it can bring dire wolves back to life has announced its ambition to resurrect the giant extinct moa bird. But experts warn that dire wolves have failed to bring back the moa and that the process of resurrecting the moa will be even more difficult.
Earlier this month, Texas-based Colossal Biosciences announced that it had worked with filmmaker Sir Peter Jackson and indigenous groups to restore the 12-foot-tall (3.6-meter) South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) and other moa species. The flightless birds were native to New Zealand before being hunted to extinction by early Maori settlers about 600 years ago.
The new project will be managed by the Ngai Tahu Research Centre, a joint venture between the main Maori (iwi) tribe of New Zealand's South Island and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. It is a comprehensive initiative that aims to integrate traditional Maori knowledge, wildlife conservation and de-extinction through gene technology.
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