'Lord of the Rings' director Peter Jackson is working to bring back an extinct bird

Jackson and his longtime lproducing and writing partner Fran Walsh have donated $10 million to Colossal Biosciences, a company who intends to use genetic engineering and other biological sciences to "resurrect" extinct species. If you remember when dire wolves came back, this is that company. It is worth noting that they don't truly bring back extinct species. Instead, they genetically engineer closely-related living species to create something as genetically close as possible to the extinct species.

Jackson and Walsh specifically gave money to the company to bring back moas, starting with the South Island Giant Moa. It's giant, indeed, as it is believed to have topped out at 12 feet tall, which would make it the tallest known bird species.

"When you grow up in New Zealand, you grow up knowing about the moa. It’s just something that’s in our DNA," Jackson said, also noting that he and Walsh have a collection of roughly 400 moa bones. So yeah, they're into moas. Jackson and Walsh also offered Colossal Biosciences use of said collection to help them bring the moa back from extinction. Or "back from extinction," such as it is.

(h/t The Hollywood Reporter)