What are some extinct New Zealand animals?

Answer 1

Some extinct New Zealand animals are:

• Moa - a huge flightless bird
• Haast's eagle
• Laughing owl
• South Island kōkako
• South Island goose
• North and South Island adzebills
• Finsch's duck
• North Island takahē

Answer 2

No extinction is as well documented as that of the New Zealand Moa (pronounced mo-ah). It was a large flightless bird of the order Dinornithiformes weighing up to 250Kg and was hunted to extinction by the Maoris by about 400 years ago. The Moa occupied the ecological niche in New Zealand of the antelope, rhinoceros and kangaroo and lived in habitats from forest to alpine tundra. They were abundant when the Maoris arrived in New Zealand about 1,000 years ago. Being so easy to catch and kill, only the best parts of the bird were eaten, the rest being discarded. One site alone shows evidence of 30,000 to 90,000 birds having been butchered over the period of Maori habitation. Dr Tim Flannery's book, "The Future Eaters" gives a good account of the extinction of the Moa and he quotes "Prodigious Birds" by Atholl Anderson as a "splendid work on the Moa".

Answer 3

There are many, many New Zealand animals, birds and reptiles which are endangered. The list includes the kiwi, tuatara, kakapo, kokako and takahe. However, for a fuller listing, look at the links below.

Answer 4

There are a great number of animals native to New Zealand. New Zealand native animals are noted for there being only two native mammals (both are bats), and also for having several species of Flightless Birds.

Answer 5

The native animals in New Zealand were mainly birds, though mammals are represented by a couple of bats.

There is of course a diverse biota of worms and insects.

Very notable is the Tuatara, a unique genera descended from the early days of the Dinosaurs about 200 million years ago.

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Present day, a diverse farm industry based on animals such as cattle, sheep, deer, llama and so on. Domestic animals include the usual cats, dogs, guinea pigs and so on.

Answer 6

The Moa is the best known but the NZ Eagle, Harpagornis moorei is another. There are several others, a goose, and a Coot.

Answer 7

Reptiles (including the Tuatara), Native bats (2 species), birds, insects and Spiders, fish and Freshwater crayfish, lower animals such as worms. No mammals apart from the two native bats.