Island's famous moai statues are crumbling into the sea, forcing locals to face urgent decisions about how best to protect their heritage.

"We think we know all the moai, but then a new one turns up." Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is famous for the 1,000 stone heads called moai that dot its hills and coastline. They were carved ...

Some 300 unfinished statues remain in close proximity to Rano Raraku, suggesting that transport was every bit as challenging as one would think.

VIDEO: 🗿 New moai statue found in dry lagoon on Chile's Easter Island The 1.6-metre statue was discovered partially buried in the bed of the dried Rano Raraku lake, in the crater of the Rano ...

A new Easter Island moai statue has been discovered in a drying-up lake in the Rano Raraku volcanic crater on the island by researchers working on marshland restoration, The Guardian reported.

The Rano Raraku volcano and its Moai are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Easter Island was long inhabited by Polynesian people, before Chile annexed it in 1888.

"This Moai has great potential for scientific and natural studies, it's a really unique discovery as it's the first time that that a Moai has been discovered inside a laguna in a Rano Raraku crater," ...

The statue was found on February 21 by a team of scientific volunteers from three Chilean universities collaborating on a project to restore the marshland in the crater of the Rano Raraku volcano.

Handout picture released by the Ma’u Henua Rapa Nui indigenous community showing a 1.60m moai statue on the dried bed of the Rano Raraku lake, in the crater of the Rano Raraku volcano, in Chile ...

The moai statue was 1.6 metres tall, and was found lying on its side, "with a full body and recognisable, but not clearly defined features", according to the Ma'u Henua community.

The statue was found on February 21 by a team of scientific volunteers from three Chilean universities collaborating on a project to restore the marshland in the crater of the Rano Raraku volcano.