An emu named Buddy escaped from his northern Colorado home on Tuesday, briefly hitting the streets before he was captured by Weld County animal control officers and sheriff’s deputies and reunited with his owner.
Officers and deputies with the Weld County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an ostrich in the roadway near Weld County Roads 76 and 33 on Tuesday, the agency posted on Instagram.
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When officers arrived in the area, which is about 10 miles north of Greeley and 4 miles west of Eaton, they found the bird was an emu, not an ostrich.
“Our (animal control officers) and patrol got to utilize their ‘contain and capture’ skills and were able to safely hold the emu in a nearby fenced residential yard, with the owner’s permission,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Instagram.
Someone passing by identified the emu’s owner and deputies were able to notify and reunite the man with his emu, who told them the bird’s name — Buddy.
Emus are native to Australia and are the second-tallest flightless bird in the world, second only to ostriches, according to the Denver Zoo. They range from 5 feet to 6 feet tall, weigh from 66 to 121 pounds and can run up to 30 mph.
The birds are legal to own in Weld County, said sheriff’s office spokesperson Melissa Chesmore, and it’s not clear how the emu escaped from its home.