A moa skull and foot bones of undisclosed provenance sold on TradeMe for almost $3000 dollars. Photo: Photo / TradeMe
The sale of Moa bones on on-line sites like Trade Me and elsewhere is set to be outlawed. Currently, any bones found on protected land or archaeological sites cannot be sold but there is no barrier to selling bones found on private land. Since 2010, more than 350 instances of moa bones and eggshells have been offered for sale, and in many cases they had been recently removed from protected sites. Under the new plan the Wildlife Act will be tightened to prohibit the sale of all moa bones and other remains of extinct species. Lynn Freeman talks to Dr Mike Dickison, previously Curator of Natural History at Whanganui Regional Museum, who was one of the group of curators who petitioned DOC to stop the sale of Moa bones.
The discussion document is open for public submissions until 28th September 2020.
