DOES THE MOA SURVIVE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4508, 27 December 1922, Page 2

DOES THE MOA SURVIVE

An article on the New Zealand moa . : has been contributed to; Chambers’ Journal, by Lieutenant-Colonel J. LSleeman. In conclusion he says: .. “Tne passing of the moa forms an in- , teresting study,' and it is to be deeply regretted that this, the world’s greatest bird, apparently became ' extinct # before the arrival of the first white men to New Zealand. The deeper the problem of its disappearance is studied the* more does it appear possible that the moa may still be in existence. For New Zealand still possesses a large ' area of wild, mountainous country as yet unexplored. It ip most imjirobable that the penetrated into this part, and it 'is surely p'ps- ; sible that the moa, cut off from civilisation by huge mountains,\ lakes,. rivers, and dense bush may still live ; in splendid isolation in the. land of his ancestry. Judge Wilson, in his - books, ‘The Story of Te Waharpa,’ written in 1894, makes the following ; statement regarding th|e moa: .‘The apcient inhabitants hunted the moa , , until it became extinct. The last ■ bird was’ killed with a taiha by a man at Tarawera. The habits of the . moa are described as solitary, living in pairs in secluded valleys in the depths of the forest, near a running stream. It* fed oh shoots, roots, apd berries, and was particularly fond of nikau and tree-fern. It was' supposed to feed at night, for it whs never seen to eat in the daytime.’ There aremany hundreds of secluded valleys in the depths of unexplored New Zealand to-day—wliere the foot of man has never trod—possessing the"running streams, the shoots, .roots, and berries favoured by the moa. Cap we • be suire that the moa is extinct undet, these circumstances ?