'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is on a mission to revive the world’s tallest bird, 600 years after it went extinct

'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is on a mission to revive the world’s tallest bird, 600 years after it went extinct

'The Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is on a mission to revive the world’s tallest bird, 600 years after it went extinct Throughout his career, acclaimed director Sir Peter Jackson has lifted many of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastical creations off the page and introduced them to the silver screen through the “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies But after years of bringing giant eagles, balrogs, ents and more to audiences around the world, Jackson’s focus has turned to another creature, one that once roamed the earth over 600 years ago: the moa.  Estimated to have stood at 12 feet tall, the moa is widely considered to be the tallest bird that ever lived.  The now-extinct species of flightless birds was once endemic to New Zealand and has long captured Jackson’s imagination as a native Kiwi.  “The movies are my day job, and the moa are my fun thing I do,” Jackson told the Associated Press. “Every New Zealand schoolchild has a fascination with the moa.” Colossal Bios…