Peter Jackson returns moa egg to New Zealand
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Peter Jackson, the film director, and Colossal Biosciences worked together to purchase a moa egg at auction and return it to New Zealand.
The egg, from a now-extinct flightless bird, had been in a private collection in Colorado since it was discovered in New Zealand in 1966. Jackson and Colossal presented the partially reassembled egg to Te Maire Tau, a leader of the Ngāi Tahu people and a Māori history professor, at a conference in Christchurch.
The Ngāi Tahu will care for the egg, which experts believe will become one of the best-preserved of the nine known nearly-intact moa eggs. Moa were once common in New Zealand, with an estimated 2.5 million birds roaming the islands before Polynesian hunters arrived around 1300 CE. Researchers have already extracted DNA from moa egg fragments to study different lineages within the species.
Colossal Biosciences aims to use the egg for further research, including non-destructive imaging and DNA sampling, but will coordinate all efforts with the Ngāi Tahu and the Canterbury Museum. The company hopes to preserve genetic material from extinct and endangered species to support conservation efforts globally. Tau stated the return of the taonga (treasured possession) will connect future generations with New Zealand’s natural and cultural history.
