5 May 2015

'Operation Moa Hunt'

8:47 pm on 5 May 2015

Hundreds of moa bones have been excavated from a site in the central North Island.

Moa skeleton at the Whanganui Regional Museum

Moa skeleton at the Whanganui Regional Museum Photo: RNZ

They have been found by Māori Studies staff and students from Victoria University of Wellington on a farm south of Taihape.

They said initial identifications indicated the bones come from mainly two moa species, the North Island giant moa and the little bush moa, and are at least 1800 years old.

The university said the discovery was made where few moa remains were known to exist.

The bones belong to about 50 individual moa birds.

The find was part of a field trip dubbed 'Operation Moa Hunt', run by Victoria's Te Kawa ā Māui, School of Māori Studies.