MOA BONES DISCOVERED

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1930, Page 7

MOA BONES DISCOVERED

AUCKLAND MUSEUM RESEARCH LIGHT, ON HISTORY OR BIRDS. (By Wire—Special to News.) - Auckland, East Night. Moa bones discovered in the Poverty Bay district were examined last week by an exploratory party representing the Auckland Museum and Institute and it is likely- that. the collection in the War Memorial Museum will shortly be considerably enhanced. The discovery of 1 the bones was reported by a local resident arid as a result .a. party comprising Sir Carrick Robertson, Messrs. F. C. Mappin and A. T. Pycrpft, members of the council of the museum, and Mr. Gilbert Archey, director, spent over a week in the district recovering the bones already reported to have been fouhd and " searching Tor others. “Considerable success attended our efforts and a fair number of bones was found,” said Mr. Archey. “A study of these bones will probably result in increased knowledge of the species of moa which inhabited the North Island, The bdnes belong chiefly to smaller moas 3ft. to sft. high. A few bones of a larger species, estimated to be about 10ft. high, were also obtained.. The bones were found in caverns and clefts in the around in places which suggested that the birds had ventured into the openings of the caves but had found the return journey impossible. The birds died in the innermost recesses of the caverns.” L , , By the light of candles and electric torches the exploratory party pursued their eerie task and occasionally a rope had to be utilised owing to a sudden drop in the floor of the caverns. Some of the clefts were, nothing more than holes in the ground into which the birds had fallen ’without hope of escape. It is considered that the moa was on the decline before New Zealand was inhabited arid that the final extermination was made by the Maoris. It .is probably 100 years since the species became extinct in the North Island, but they are believed to have lingered longer in the South Island; It is presumed 'from marks found on some of the bones that the moa was hunted by the Maori and the marrow extracted from the bones. . '