A Rare Egg And The Director Of The Lord Of The Rings Are Going To Help Bring Back A Giant Bird From Extinction

Sir Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings, is on a mission to help bring back a giant, flightless bird called the moa, which went extinct approximately 600 years ago.

The moa weighed over 500 pounds and stood 12 feet tall, towering over people until it was hunted to extinction in New Zealand. Sir Peter Jackson is the owner of hundreds of bones from the big bird, and he even helped to obtain one of the eggs along with Colossal Biosciences so that they can work on the de-extinction of the moa.

The egg spent 60 years in a private collection somewhere in the United States after being discovered on January 14th, 1966, in New Zealand.

It seems the egg originally came from a human burial site, according to auction records, and was bought at a Colorado auction this year for $10,500.

Less than 40 complete moa eggs are known to be in existence, and the one acquired by Sir Peter Jackson and Colossal Biosciences is around 22 by 17 centimeters and still has many pieces that need to be put back together, much like a puzzle.

The eggshell is quite delicate, which is why so few intact eggs have survived, and the ones that have are mainly owned by private collectors.

The special artifact is not only being used to hopefully bring the moa back; Colossal Biosciences is repatriating it to New Zealand in December.

"Every New Zealander grows up knowing the moa and feeling its loss," Sir Peter Jackson explained in a press release. "Whenever I've been walking deep in the New Zealand bush, I can't help but keep looking into the thick forest, hoping for a glimpse of the mythic 'last moa' - an amazing bird that sadly no longer exists, no matter how hard you look... and hope."

"When we learned that this exceptionally rare moa egg was being sold outside of New Zealand, we spoke to Colossal, who not only offered to rescue it at their own considerable expense, but to also fly it privately to New Zealand, so it returns home safely."

Banana Images - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only - pictured above are mountains in New Zealand

"After expert restoration, it will very likely become only the ninth known nearly intact moa egg, probably one of the five best-preserved examples. More importantly, working with Colossal, and under Ngāi Tahu's guidance, we can return this culturally significant taonga to its rightful custodians, advance research into the Moa, and connect future generations with Aotearoa's extraordinary cultural and natural history. I'm delighted this treasure will now be in the care of Ngāi Tahu."

It will certainly be a challenge for Colossal Biosciences to bring the moa back, as unlike the dire wolf they have already worked on, which still has a close living relative in the gray wolf, the moa is much more distant from living relatives such as the emu and tinamou.

Despite the difficulties Colossal Biosciences faces, they report that they have made serious progress on their quest to one day have the moa back on Earth.

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