Catch me if you can!
30mph runaway emu leaves police and RSPCA in a flap… in Doncaster
‘Officers lost track of it’
WHEN Rod Hull died over 20 years s ago, so did his beloved emu.
But it would seem the obstreperous bird’s spirit is alive and well – on the country lanes of Yorkshire.
A mischievous emu, nicknamed Ethel, has been on the run for r nearly a week after escaping from her enclosure. Police and the RSPCA A have tried to capture her but t thanks to her speed, Ethel has outrun any attempt to trap her.
She is thought to have fled from her owner in Doncaster after she was spooked by passers-by. She has since been spotted on more than a dozen occasions in parks, gardens and fields – and even the Trans Pennine Trail.
South Yorkshire Police said they were unable to say whether the emu had been reunited with her owner after officers lost track of it.
The bird’s owner has not come forward. One theory is Ethel escaped her enclosure years ago and has lived in the wild ever since.
Local businessman Rod Bloor, 56, who owns three emus, said: ‘I can’t be certain but I suspect it is one that was owned by someone local which escaped a few years ago from their secure garden.
‘Emus can live in woodland much like deer. You can see them from time to time but they will run away if approached.
‘This one has obviously got a bit tamer and has been seen a few times now.’ He added that ‘gangs of idiots’ have been chasing Ethel and she needs to be left alone. A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said officers tried to capture the bird on Thursday ‘but the emu ran off at speed’.
Emus are native to Australia and can run up to 30mph. They are the second largest bird after ostriches.