The Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) occurs widespread in Australia in all areas except in cleared land, rainforest and they are rare in deserts and the extreme north. The emu is the second largest living bird! The height of the emu averages 1.75 m and they can live 5-10 years, and longer in captivity. Emus are large, flightless, shaggy birds, the females weigh about 5 kg more than males. Their neck and legs are long but their wings are tiny, and less than 20 cm. Emus have three toes. The emu is a fast runner and a good strong swimmer, running they.can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h. It is The females make characteristic resonant booming sounds, and males sometimes make calls which sound like "e-moo" and can be heard over long distances. The emu prefers and seeks a very nutritious diet, they take the parts of plants that have the most concentrated nutrients like seeds, fruits, flowers and young shoots. They also eat insects and need daily access to fresh water. In arid Australia, the exhaustion of a food supply in one place often means moving hundreds of kilometers to find another source of food. The emu shows two adaptations to this way of life. Firstly, when food is abundant, an emu stores large amounts of fat, and is able to use these while looking for more food.Birds that normally weigh 45 kg can keep moving weighing as little as 20 kg. When Emu eggs are fresh they are dark green, but become almost black with time. Emus have benefitted from man's activities in inland Australia, because the establishment of watering points for sheep and cattle has provided permanent water where there was none before, and so much of Australia is unoccupied or used as open rangeland that the emu is in no danger of extinction.

In our webshop we have a mounted Emu for rent.

Texts are published by Wildlife Centre in 2007, if you mention the source you may use our texts and photographs. If you want to know more about Wildlife Centre and its background, you can read the about us page.