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New Zealand · Nature & Wildlife · Normal

What is the Māori name for the giant, flightless bird, related to the kiwi, that stood up to 3.6 metres tall, weighed over 200 kilograms, and was hunted to extinction by Māori within about 100 years of human arrival?

Nine species of moa (Dinornithiformes) roamed Aotearoa before human settlement; the largest, Dinornis robustus, was the tallest bird ever to have lived. Its extinction around 1445 CE also led to the demise of its only predator, the Haast's eagle.

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