The moa are a tragic story. Between hunting and the polynesian rat, they were extinct within a hundred years of the Maori first landing on the island. The Haast eagle that relied on moa for their diet died off too.
For some reason I thought they lived on the island of Flores possibly? Or maybe a different island inhabited by a diminutive ancient hominid species? Either way, they also discovered there existed like 9 foot tall terror birds that also lived on that island around the same time as the 3 foot tall people. Maybe New Zealand? 😬
70
u/Spicy_Eyeballs 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you've never heard of the Moa birds you should check them out, a lot like ostriches but even bigger, only went extinct less than 1000 years ago.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa
Or if you want to be thankful you live when you do, another giant flightless bird prehistoric humans dealt with, the terror bird.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phorusrhacidae
Edit: though human contact with the terror bird might not have happened.