Police escort rogue emu home after escapade WANT TO SEE MORE?
First, it was roaming horses. Now po¯tiki has its own wandering emu which, on Sunday, could be seen dodging cars, kids on bikes and local law enforcement.
But the unusual escapade did not last long when police swooped to the rescue, walking the bird back to its Union St paddock.
The drama unfolded when the pet emu was chased from his sanctuary by roaming dogs. Police were called and the bird was returned to safety on foot.
The scene played out in a video posted to Facebook, where a police officer can be seen walking beside the emu, followed by a police vehicle and children on bicycles.
po¯tiki District Council planning and regulatory group manager Gerard Mccormack said the emu was a wellknown feature of the town, having lived there for 15 years.
“The animal control team keep an eye on the emu as part of the regular patrols and the owner always takes care to ensure the emu is fenced and secure and we’ve not had any issues,” he said.
In the wild, an emu’s life expectancy is believed to be between 10 and 20 years, but they can live up to 35 years in captivity.
Facebook comments about the emu’s hı¯koi show it is a firm favourite in the town.
Many people said their children enjoyed feeding the emu and expressed concern for its safety.
Others found the event bemusing and posted: “Only in po¯tiki”.
This is po¯tiki’s only emu escapee, but Mccormack said in July since the Covid-19 lockdown, there had been a huge influx of horses into the township, which was not sustainableo¯ given the amount of grazing available.
This had led to more callouts about horses on roads and in other people’s properties and complaints of neglect such as horses without water.
The owner of the emu declined to comment.
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the video.