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Story: Moa

A fanciful moa

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A fanciful moa

There was such patriotic enthusiasm about the size of New Zealand’s moa that one collector, James Gault of Canterbury, increased the height of the bird by combining the neck vertebrae of two moa. In order for this distorted beast to be able to stand, Gault supported it with a metal rod.

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Hocken Collections, University of Otago

Permission of the Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.

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How to cite this page

Trevor H. Worthy, Moa – Appearance and breeding, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/11379/a-fanciful-moa (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Trevor H. Worthy, published 1 March 2009.