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Image: Paul Martinson/Te Papa (2006-0010-1/17)

Deputy Director of the Environment Institute, , has contributed to groundbreaking insightsÌýexamining the impact of human settlement and hunting on the extinction of New Zealand’s giant flightless birds, the moa.

Using computer modelling and fossil evidence, Fordham and his team reconstructed how six moa species vanished and explored whether their extinctions could have been prevented.

, published in Science of the Total Environment,Ìýreveals that frequent harvesting of moa and their eggs by early human settlers likely made their extinction unavoidable. The findings suggest that only large-scale protected areas, covering more than 50% of New Zealand’s land, could have allowed the species to survive, a scenario that would have been difficult given the reliance of Polynesian colonists on wild food sources.

This research has provided greater methods to better protect today's larger body endangered species. In particular, this research serves as a guide for conservation practices for the remaining flightless birds in New Zealand, such as the cassowary and kiwi.Ìý

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The paper wasÌýco-authored by researchers from the University of Ã×À¼µç×Ó, State University of New York, Australian National University, University of Auckland, and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.