Palaeontology

Peter Jackson is helping to resurrect a species of giant extinct bird

By T.K. Randall
July 10, 2025 ·  2 comments

Image: Sir Peter Jackson
Credit: Mike Walen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) Not content with producing the upcoming live-action movie The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, Peter Jackson has also been working on something that, if successful, could see the return of a creature that wouldn't look at all out of place in the forests of Middle Earth.

Having partnered with Texas-based genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences, Jackson is hoping to aid efforts to resurrect the moa - an enormous extinct bird native to New Zealand's South Island that disappeared around 600 years ago.

These birds were genuinely huge - standing up to 3.6 meters tall and weighing 230kg.

Right now, Colossal Biosciences is looking to acquire samples of moa DNA for genomic analysis - something that Jackon has been able to help with thanks to his extensive collection of moa bones."I've always loved the idea of de-extinction," he told IGN.

"Particularly, since the science can also have huge benefits with endangered species too."

"Fran and I have a collection of around 400 Moa bones, and we've already sampled them for DNA."

"I see my role over the next year or two as gathering as many more bones as I can. The more bones, the better the genome."

Whether we will see the giant moa roaming the wilds of New Zealand again within the next few years, however, remains to be seen.


Source: IGN.com | Comments (2)

Tags: Moa, Peter Jackson