Family : Casuariidae

The emu is the only remaining member of the genus Dromaius and at up to 2m tall is the second largest flightless bird in the world after the Ostrich.They can run at 50kph and a single stride can measure 3 metres.
The Emu, along with Cassowaries,Kiwis and Ostriches belongs to the oldest of the modern bird families-the 'Ratites'. Ratites are flightless running birds with flat breastbones and include kiwis, ostriches and cassowaries.
Emus thrive in remote rugged, not necessarily arid places in Australia, from the plains of Central Australia, as this one was - seen at Wilpena Pound in central South Australia, to the tropical and subtropical woodlands of both the north and south of Australia.Emus even survive in the high country snowfields demonstrating its adaptability. It does however avoid thickly forested regions.
Being nomadic and opportunistic feeders their diet consists of a wide variety of flowers,fruits and seeds of native grasses and other seasonally available plants.When food becomes scarce in Autumn they will graze on young grass shoots coming up after summer rains and in winter herbs form a big part of their diet.Emus will also eat insects when they are plentiful such as in grasshopper plagues.
The Tasmanian Tiger is not the only species sent to extinction in Tasmania after arrival of Europeans in 1788. Also in Tasmania, an Emu sub species was wiped out within a few short years and these days on the NSW East Coast in places where their former range was once common they are increasingly rarely seen, except in some of the isolated National Parks along the coast from Crescent Head to Evans Head where the vegetation is less dense.
Commercial Emu farming licences were first granted in 1993 with the industry closely regulated by National Parks and Wildlife Acts.