In a historic indigenous-coordinated initiative, the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre has entered into a collaboration with Colossal Biosciences, a Texas-based genetic engineering and de-extinction company, and acclaimed The Lord of the Rings director Sir Peter Jackson, to work together to resurrect the extinct South Island Giant Moa.
This comes after Colossal successfully brought back the dire wolf, and we recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jackson, Ben Lamm, Colossal CEO and co-founder, and Kyle Davis, a Ngāi Tahu archaeologist.
To bring you up to speed, the moa were flightless birds endemic to New Zealand that went extinct approximately 600 years ago, approximately two centuries after Polynesian settlement. These remarkable birds, which consisted of nine distinct species, ranged from turkey-sized species to the South Island Giant Moa (Dinornis robustus), which stood up to 3.6 meters tall.
As large herbivores, moa played crucial ecological roles in New Zealand's forests and grasslands for millions of years. Their browsing habits shaped vegetation structure and composition, while their seed dispersal activities influenced plant distribution patterns. The extinction of moa resulted in significant changes to New Zealand's ecosystems, creating cascading effects still evident today.
During our conversation, the trio talks to us about their goals, how this collaboration came to be, the Jurassic Park of it all, The Avengers being a surprise source of inspiration, and which other creatures they'd like to give the de-extinction treatment.
We started by asking Jackson what led him to get involved with this mission to restore the giant moa, prompting him to explain his working relationship with the team at Colossal Biosciences.
Revealing that it goes back to his hopes for the future as a child (which included the resurrection of dinosaurs, which, sadly, isn't possible), the filmmaker told us that Godzilla: King of the Monsters helmer Michael Dougherty connected him with Lamm after working on a documentary for the company.
"I did a Zoom call, met Ben, and I was disappointed in a way, because I had a look at their website beforehand, and they were talking about bringing the Mammoth, the Dodo, and the Tasmanian Tiger [back], but there was no sign of the Moa," Jackson said. "As soon as I got on the call with them, I said, 'Why not the Moa?'"
Asked what it means to have a collaborator like the King Kong director, Lamm told us, "Having someone like Peter involved, and Fran [Walsh] is amazing. Not only are they great investors and very thoughtful business people, but they also help us think through all these things. They've been incredible [and opened] up their homes to us."
He'd go on to explain that Jackson and Walsh's collection of bones proved pivotal to Colossal's mission, and praised the duo for connecting his company with the best people possible to help them achieve this de-extinction mission.
Davis was among them and said he had "plenty of dreams" about being part of something like this before elaborating on the importance of the giant moa to New Zealand.
"It's just one of those iconic lost species or lost environmental entities that captures the imagination," the archaeologist explained. "As a career archaeologist and environmentalist, the prospect of understanding those dynamics more to add to our own tribal story is very, very exciting."
After Jackson dismissed the notion of stepping behind the camera to work on a documentary for Colossal (he'd rather not mix his work with an endeavour he's enjoying pursuing in his personal life), we wondered what's next for him as a filmmaker.
"The Hunt for Gollum, which is a Lord of the Rings connected movie that Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, will direct. But we're working on the script and producing it. So that's something for next year. Yeah."
You can hear more from Jackson, Lamm, and Davis in our full interview. More details on their collaboration can also be found below.