Colossal’s Next De-Extinction Target Is the World’s Tallest Bird
A partnership with Māori leaders and Peter Jackson brings the giant moa one step closer to reality
Fresh off the birth of the world’s first functionally de-extincted dire wolves, Colossal Biosciences has announced its next species: the South Island giant moa, a wingless bird that once stood nearly 12 feet tall and roamed New Zealand for millions of years before going extinct roughly 600 years ago. The project is being led in partnership with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at the University of Canterbury, with filmmaker Peter Jackson serving as a key collaborator. For the Māori people, the moa carries deep cultural significance. “The way nature and culture continually shape one another,” said Ngāi Tahu Research Centre director Mike Stevens. Colossal scientists and Ngāi Tahu archaeologists are currently collecting ancient DNA samples, with a reference genome of the tinamou, the moa’s closest living relative, already complete. CEO Ben Lamm described the collaboration as a new model for Colossal’s work with indigenous communities: “The stewards and the people of this land, the Māori, inviting us in, and working with them in a true collaborative fashion, where the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre is the driver of the project is not a way we’ve ever collaborated before.” Read the full story in Rolling Stone.