Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture

What colossal birds once graced New Zealand’s primeval forests? Right here at Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture, we ponder this question. This Auckland Airport installation, nestled between terminals, features a giant kiwi and a bronze moa. These sculptures honor New Zealand’s unique fauna. They also invite us to reflect on a bygone era. Let’s explore the fascinating story of the moa, represented in Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture. These flightless birds, some as tall as a basketball hoop, once roamed New Zealand. They ranged in size, from turkey-sized to the tallest bird ever recorded. Recent studies show moas weren’t closely related to ostriches. They were more closely related to the tinamous birds of South America. The moa’s connection to Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture highlights their unique evolutionary path. They were the only birds to completely lose their wing bones. This makes their arrival in New Zealand a mystery. It is likely their ancestors were on the landmass before it split from Gondwana, or arrived shortly after. The Maori people, who arrived around 850 years ago, described moas as swift runners. They defended themselves with powerful kicks. However, unlike the aggressive cassowary, moas were peaceful vegetarians. Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture immortalizes these gentle giants. They ate grass, leaves, and berries. Their booming calls, likely similar to a giant swan, echoed through the forests. Moas lived slow and died old. They took about 10 years to mature. Their eggs were enormous, almost ten inches long and seven inches wide. Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture reminds us of their lost presence. New Zealand, without mammalian predators, was a moa paradise. Their only threat was the Haast eagle, a bird of prey with tiger-sized talons. Still, moas thrived for millions of years. Their fossils date back 2.4 million years. Sadly, their reign ended with human arrival. Overhunting led to their extinction about 600 years ago. Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture serves as a poignant reminder of this loss. The moa’s extinction marks the end of a wave of megafaunal extinctions. These began around 13,000 years ago, with the disappearance of mammoths, sabertooth cats, and giant ground sloths. Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture encourages us to remember the moa. This last giant of New Zealand’s forests. While extinct, the moa lives on in our imagination. And here, at Mr Morriss’s Animals Sculpture, their memory is solidified in bronze.