During the 1950s, New Zealand was consumed by a ‘moa hoax’ that started as a playful prank in Kumara, a small town on the southern West Coast. Full of ingenuity and hilarity, it will go down in history as one of New Zealand’s finest.

The true Story of the Moa Hoax

If moa still existed, they’d most likely be found deep in the wilderness. In the 1950s, the West Coast was far from the tourist mecca it is today; a land with scattered one-horse towns half buried in the bush. A man from Kumara, a small town south of Greymouth, was known around town for his fascination with moa. The name of this man appears to be lost to history, but here we’ll refer to him as ‘moa-man’. A local stumbled upon some unusual bones near Gemstone Creek and passed them on to him. Moa-man quickly set about making sketches and meticulously measuring them up, convinced they were evidence of the country’s most famous ratite. He then sent the bones to Canterbury Museum for analysis.

One can only imagine the crushing disappointment when he received a reply from Dr. Falla, the museum ornithologist. Apparently, the bones were from a sheep. Certainly, the Kumara locals thought the diagnosis was hilarious. Soon, the news reached the ears of Mick Neville, a close friend of Moa-man. Mick was a local carpenter with a cheeky streak. He thought the bones looked nothing like a sheep and felt slightly sorry for his moa-obsessed friend. Later he also confessed he liked the idea of taking the mickey out of Dr. Falla.

The Prank Begins…

Mick was a skilled craftsman and put his skills to good use. He fashioned a pair of ‘moa feet’ from three prongs of wood fixed to the soles of some old leather shoes. Mick was surely shaking his head in glee as he tied the laces and proceeded to go ‘for a stroll’ under Taramakau Bridge. Each footstep left an exquisite print in the sand.

Mick mentioned the odd footprints to locals and let gossip do what it does best. It wasn’t long before townsfolk began crowding around the riverbank, whispering with excitement. The news reached Moa-man who was soon seen hunched over the sand umming and ahhing as he made plaster casts of the so-called moa prints. He later sent the casts to Dr. Falla. However, he wasn’t 100% convinced about their authenticity yet, and was heard remarking, ‘it’s rather strange I haven’t seen signs of moa feeding activity.’

Well, Mick knew how to fix that problem too. He went home, sharpened some metal tongs, and went back to the riverbank where he ‘nibbled’ tutu bushes and various shrubs, dropping twigs and berries on the sand. His friend found the evidence and commented, ‘it’s odd I haven’t seen any droppings.’


Mick went home, his mind ticking with ingenuity. Out came the kitchen meat grinder. He threw in leaves, berries, bits of grass; anything he presumed a moa would eat, and churned it up. Next, he cut off a piece of garden hose, pushed the mixture through, and strategically placed the ‘droppings’ on the riverbank.


The next evening, the radio hummed with the discovery of the moa tracks and Kumara was cast into the international spotlight. An uneventful month passed before Mick went for another walk in his moa shoes. Once again, the tracks made headline news. By now, he must have known things were getting out of hand. The deception that had fooled so many, appalled his wife. Mick put the shoes away for nearly 15 years. The truth of the moa hoax was only discovered when he re-enacted his walks on the riverbank for a TV program called Town and Around. 

Although the moa is classified as extinct, this iconic species is part of Kiwi culture and will live on through stories and art in years to come. Here, a moa statue stands outside the Steampunk Headquarters in Oamaru.

Does the moa still exist?

The scientific consensus is that the moa was hunted to extinction sometime around 1500 AD. However, there are a handful of convincing moa sightings (such as by Alice McKenzie in Martin’s Bay) up to the 1890s. Dr. Falla’s opinion of 1972 was that it is very unlikely that they were still alive.


Overall, the case of the moa is a somber reminder, yet another case of humans leading to the extermination of a marvellous creature. But, we Kiwis still love to imagine the ‘if only’ scenario that a remnant population might still roam the wild, awaiting discovery.

Read more

• The Tarawera Phantom Canoe: New Zealand’s enduring mystery
• Best things to do in Middlemarch, Otago
• 5 Interesting facts you might not know about Stewart Island/Rakiura
• Top free things to do in Kaikoura

References

• Gosset, R. (1970). New Zealand Mysteries. Auckland: The Bush Press of New Zealand: pp. 172-173
• Perkins, J. (1972). The Moa. Sound Collection, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. Available from: https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=197699