Urewera moa 'probably emu'

Flightless birds and a flight of fancy have prompted two Australian researchers to launch a mission into dense forest near Wairoa.

Cryptozoologists Rex and Heather Gilroy believe they are on the right track to a place in the Urewera bush where moa still roam, and will begin their search next month.

They are placing their bet on the basis of two plaster casts they believe could be prints of scrub moa found in mud six years ago, and a follow-up visit to the area in November.

But a Hastings researcher said their money is on the wrong bird. Tony Lucas, who runs a crytozoology website, reckons they are more likely to find an Aussie resident - the emu - strutting around.

He said there were definitely emus in the Urewera bush, but probably no moa.

If the Gilroys really wanted to find those, they should be heading to Fiordland.

"The Fiordland bush is so dense it's their best hope of finding anything. The North Island is too populated and there's not as dense bush. Most sightings tend to come from the South Island."

Mr Lucas said many people were too scared to report sightings of unusual animals for fear of being ridiculed.

"Sometimes they're told they've had a few too many beers at the pub."

Mr Gilroy has spent 50 years researching unexplained phenomenons and legendary people and animals, including a hairy creature called a yowie, and ancient Australians pre-dating Aborigines, said to be 12 feet tall and weighing 600 pounds.

He has written eight books, and established the Australasian Cryptozoological Research Centre in Katoomba, New South Wales.

Palaeontologist Joan Wiffen, 85, of Havelock North, who made the first discovery of dinosaur bones in New Zealand, said it would be a sensation if the Gilroys found living moa, but she would not be holding her breath.

It was more likely they were enjoying " a bit of a dream".