Extinct Birds
Jul. 11th, 2025 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
birdfeeding'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is on a mission to revive the world’s tallest bird, 600 years after it went extinct
Inspired by their debut project, Jackson is now working with Colossal to bring the ancient moa back to life through subfossil sourcing and genetic engineering.
On July 8, Jackson and his partner donated $15 million to the project.
The moa is an excellent choice for de-extinction, as it died out relatively recently and due to human misbehavior.
According to Colossal, the project will be advised and directed by Māori scholars at the University of Canterbury’s Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. The center, which was created in 2011, is an intellectual hub that supports the tribal development of the Māori people of southern New Zealand.
I'm really pleased to see this collaboration between conventional and indigenous scholars.
“Our earliest ancestors in this place lived alongside moa and our records, both archaeological and oral, contain knowledge about these birds and their environs,” Davis said in a press statement. “We relish the prospect of bringing that into dialogue with Colossal’s cutting-edge science as part of a bold vision for ecological restoration.”
If anyone would understand how to reintroduce the moa effectively to its native habitat, it would be the Māori.
“This partnership represents a new model where indigenous leadership guides scientific endeavors, recognizing that traditional ecological knowledge and cultural context are essential to responsible de-extinction and species preservation efforts.”
Well reasoned. We need more of this.
“Can you put a species back into the wild once you’ve exterminated it there?” said Pimm, who is not involved with the project.
Yes. That's reintroduction after extirpation. It is a standard technique in conservation and is precisely why ultra-endangered species are moved to captivity where they can be protected and propagated with an aim toward restoring them later. It works. See "The Wolves of Yellowstone" for a textbook example.
“I think it’s exceedingly unlikely that they could do this in any meaningful way…
See above examples of successful reintroduction. Given the moa's size, I strongly suspect it was a keystone species. We won't actually know how much damage its loss has done until we put it back and see what it fixes.
this will be an extremely dangerous animal.”
At 12 feet tall, I would certainly think so. Do not fuck with the moas.
The Dire Wolf De-Extinction Project was also subject to criticism within the scientific community, with the main point of contention being that the same resources should be used to protect existing species.
1) Fix what you broke, asshole. It's past time that humans quit behaving like an asteroid smacking into the planet.
2) It is each activist's free choice which worthy causes to support and what tactics to use in doing so. Mind your own business and don't criticize other activists' different choices. If we all wanted to fix the same thing the same way, then most problems would go unsolved.
Inspired by their debut project, Jackson is now working with Colossal to bring the ancient moa back to life through subfossil sourcing and genetic engineering.
On July 8, Jackson and his partner donated $15 million to the project.
The moa is an excellent choice for de-extinction, as it died out relatively recently and due to human misbehavior.
According to Colossal, the project will be advised and directed by Māori scholars at the University of Canterbury’s Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. The center, which was created in 2011, is an intellectual hub that supports the tribal development of the Māori people of southern New Zealand.
I'm really pleased to see this collaboration between conventional and indigenous scholars.
“Our earliest ancestors in this place lived alongside moa and our records, both archaeological and oral, contain knowledge about these birds and their environs,” Davis said in a press statement. “We relish the prospect of bringing that into dialogue with Colossal’s cutting-edge science as part of a bold vision for ecological restoration.”
If anyone would understand how to reintroduce the moa effectively to its native habitat, it would be the Māori.
“This partnership represents a new model where indigenous leadership guides scientific endeavors, recognizing that traditional ecological knowledge and cultural context are essential to responsible de-extinction and species preservation efforts.”
Well reasoned. We need more of this.
“Can you put a species back into the wild once you’ve exterminated it there?” said Pimm, who is not involved with the project.
Yes. That's reintroduction after extirpation. It is a standard technique in conservation and is precisely why ultra-endangered species are moved to captivity where they can be protected and propagated with an aim toward restoring them later. It works. See "The Wolves of Yellowstone" for a textbook example.
“I think it’s exceedingly unlikely that they could do this in any meaningful way…
See above examples of successful reintroduction. Given the moa's size, I strongly suspect it was a keystone species. We won't actually know how much damage its loss has done until we put it back and see what it fixes.
this will be an extremely dangerous animal.”
At 12 feet tall, I would certainly think so. Do not fuck with the moas.
The Dire Wolf De-Extinction Project was also subject to criticism within the scientific community, with the main point of contention being that the same resources should be used to protect existing species.
1) Fix what you broke, asshole. It's past time that humans quit behaving like an asteroid smacking into the planet.
2) It is each activist's free choice which worthy causes to support and what tactics to use in doing so. Mind your own business and don't criticize other activists' different choices. If we all wanted to fix the same thing the same way, then most problems would go unsolved.
