Emus Found Wandering On Long Island Get For-Feather Home With Sanctuary In Connecticut

LONG ISLAND, NY — A trio of teenage emus recently rounded up from wandering the streets of Selden will be taken upstate to their for-feather home in Connecticut on Friday.

The birds were found wandering the streets of Selden for two days before they were rescued by volunteers from Strong Island Animal Rescue, and they were safely whisked away to the Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown for rehabilitation.

Indigenous to Australia, Emus are large birds that cannot fly, according to Wikipedia.

It remains a mystery how they ended up roaming around the suburbs near a school on Long Island.

A gentleman claiming to be the owner came forward and wanted them back, however when rescuers asked for proof that the birds were being kept in the proper enclosure and that is legal for him to have them, but he backed off, Sweetbriar's director of wildlife rehabilitation, Jeanine Bendicksen, said.

"So if that was the person he obviously didn't have them in the proper setup," she added.

Rescuers initially believed the birds might have been kept for food, but now Bendicksen says she would like to believe they were "pets."

"The birds were in decent condition," she said. "There was one that was definitely the leader, a larger one, and then two small ones."

The group put a post out on Facebook last week offering the birds for adoption, and they had five sanctuaries "fighting over them."

"They're all fighting over, who is going to get the team these emus, so I do have placement for them, and they will be leaving here on Friday," she said.

The center's post included some little-known facts about emus.

Emus are "incredible dads" who incubate the eggs for 56 days without eating or drinking, losing up to a third of their body weight, according to the center.

Once the chicks hatch, the "devoted" fathers can become protective, and chase away any other females — even the mom while defending their nest fiercely.

"They stay with their little ones for up to two years, guiding them as they grow," the post concluded with the hashtags "EmuDad," "Nature is Awesome," "Fatherly Love," "Emu Rescue," and "Adopt Don't Shop."

The center's goat had to give up part of its space to make way for the three emus, according to Bendicksen.

"It's obviously not acres, but it's very nice for them," she said. "The biggest problem is the fence only goes so high, and when these guys are full-grown, they can easily jump a six-foot fence. So, yeah, if we were to keep them, we would have had to have to completely change the enclosure."

"And you know what? I'm so happy they're going to acres and acres," she added.