A single feather of the now extinct New Zealand huia bird has set a world record after being sold for NZD$46,521.50 ($28,417, £22,409) at an auction.

The feather, initially expected to fetch up to $3,000, broke the previous record which was for a feather of the same species by 450%, the Webb’s Auction House said.

The huia bird was sacred to the Māori people. Their feathers were often worn as headpieces by chiefs and their families and also gifted or traded.

Its last confirmed sighting was in 1907, but unconfirmed sightings were reported for twenty to thirty years after that, according to the Museum of New Zealand.

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The feather is registered as a taonga tūturu under a system to protect Maori made objects. Only collectors who had license in the system were allowed to purchase it, and it can not leave the country without permission from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.