South Otago Forest & Bird are hosting a free presentation by Otago University Prof Nic Rawlence at TPŌMA tomorrow night, in an effort to "sort fact from fiction" and highlight some of the concerns the project has raised.
In July, genetic engineering firm Colossal Biosciences announced plans to resurrect the extinct South Island giant moa in collaboration with Ngāi Tahu, film-maker Sir Peter Jackson, scientist Paul Scofield and the University of Canterbury.
Standing up to 3.6m and weighing 230kg, the giant moa disappeared from Te Waipounamu about 600 years ago, hunted to extinction two centuries after Polynesian settlement.
However, South Otago Forest & Bird co-chairwoman Jane Young added the group’s voice to concerns the project might distract from conservation of endangered species like the yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho.
"Prof Rawlence is trying to put some reality into the glitzy prospect of having moa roam our forests once again.
"Our group has a major focus on hoiho conservation, and we share [Prof Rawlence’s] concern that the hope of de-extinction risks diverting attention — and funding — away from hoiho and other New Zealand endangered species."
Mrs Young said Prof Rawlence would explore the science, ethics and indigenous concerns about de-extinction.
The talk is at 7pm tomorrow, at TPŌMA, free of charge.
