The laughing owl’s dinner revealed

These bones are from the jaw and legs of a kiore, or Pacific rat.

They are part of a new display at the South Canterbury Museum about the extinct whē kau, or laughing owl, and what it ate.

This particular species of rat no longer occurs in our region, having been displaced by the introduced ship rat and Norwegian rat. Kiore are not native, having first arrived here with explorers and immigrants from eastern Polynesia around 900 years ago.

They may have been stowaways, or deliberately brought as a fresh food source for long voyages, able to survive arduous ocean crossings with minimal care.

These particular bones were recovered from a whē kau nesting site in the Craigmore area in the 1960s. The whē kau, which became extinct in the early 20th century, preyed upon a variety of small birds, reptiles and insects.

The arrival of kiore gave it another food source. Researchers have recovered a diverse range of remains from whē kau nesting sites in limestone cliff areas, enabling them to reconstruct the prehuman fauna of our region.

This fauna began to change quickly with the arrival of humans and rats, and to change again in the 19th century with new bird and rodent species arriving from Europe with British settlers.