Full Moa skeletons sell for $20,000 to $50,000

                                                                  Photo: Alpha Historica / Alamy Stock Photo

Paleontologists are pleading with the government of New Zealand to halt the trade in the priceless bones of the extinct moa bird, stating that millions of years of science is disappearing as entire skeletons are disassembled and sold on the internet or smuggled overseas.    Moas, giant flightless birds which stood up to 3.6m tall, were native to New Zealand about 500 to 600 years ago.   Although it is illegal to collect or sell bones from public conservation lands, looters routinely plunder caves and swamps for bones, which in their entirety can be sold for $20,000 to $50,000, or between $70 and $350 for a single bone.   When moa bones are lost, so too is the rich DNA and scientific data they hold.

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BarrytheBirder