One thousand years ago, huge flightless birds lived on the islands of New Zealand. These creatures were called moas. There were more twelve species and the largest weighed more than 200 kilograms and were 2 to 3 meters high. The different species probably became extinct at different times. This is not sure because there is limited information about these birds.

Like the dodo, the moas developed on isolated islands with little contact with other land vertebrates. When the first humans arrived on the islands, they hunted the moas. Even though the native people of New Zealand had oral accounts of the moas, Europeans did not find out about the moas until the 1830s when some scientists studied the bones of the birds. When scientists & the public heard about the existence of the moas there was a lot of excitement and hope that it could be found alive. Unfortunately,

there never any true sightings. There have been many reports of moas sightings none of these were proven true. The period greatest of sightings happened from 1850-1880.

There are many factors on the moas’ extinction. One is that rats and dogs that were brought on the ships by the first humans attacked the eggs and young. Another is that the natives tipped the balance of the ecosystem towards other fish and plants. The last is a very common one with extinct animals. Man hunted them. All of these factors may have contributed to the extinction of these birds. This was a very common case of what man can do to over tip a delicate ecosystem.