Unearthing History: Tractor Driver Discovers South Island’s First Moa Footprints Along Otago River
A man walking along an Otago river has found the first preserved moa footprints in the South Island, believed to be millions of years old. Michael Johnston was taking his boss’s dogs for a walk along the Kyeburn River in March when he spotted the “odd looking” foot prints submerged in clay, exposed after flooding late last year. Johnston, a tractor driver, thought the footprints, which measured about 30 centimetres long and 30cm wide, could belong to the extinct bird. “I thought that they would be quite a common thing that we found,” he said. Otago Museum natural Science assistant curator Kane Fleury was surprised when he was forwarded Johnston’s Facebook message showing photos of the discovery. Days later he visited the spot, and donning a snorkel and wetsuit he saw the perfectly preserved foot prints under water, and found another two behind some loose gravel. “I was pretty blown away, when you get in the water and you see how almost perfect the preservation of th...