 TheHaast's eagle, which may have inspired the Pouākai | |
| Grouping | Birds of prey |
|---|---|
| Sub grouping | Eagles |
| Folklore | Māori |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | South Island |
Thepouākai (also spelledpoukai) is a monstrous bird inMāori mythology.[1][2]
In some of these legends, the Pouākai kills and eats humans. The myth may refer to the real but now extinctHaast's eagle: the largest known eagle species, which was able to kill an adultmoa weighing up to 230 kilograms (510 lb), and which potentially had the capability to kill a small child.[3]
Haast's eagles, which lived only in the east and northwest of New Zealand'sSouth Island, did not become extinct until around two hundred years after the arrival ofMāori. Eagles are depicted in early rock-shelter paintings inSouth Canterbury.[4] Large amounts of the eagle's lowland habitat had been destroyed by burning by AD 1350, and it was driven extinct by overhunting, both directly (Haast's eagle bones have been found in Māori archaeological sites) and indirectly: its main prey species, nine species of moa and other large birds such asadzebills,flightless ducks, andflightless geese, were hunted to extinction at the same time.[5]