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Harvey Kong

An escaped emu that made a dash for freedom is still with Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) more than a month after it was captured, as the hunt for a suitable home for the creature continues.
The department said ahead of the weekend that no one had contacted it to claim the animal.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it would not handle the adoption arrangements for the bird.
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden also ruled out giving the emu a home and it is understood that there is a low possibility that Ocean Park would take it in.
“The emu concerned is still under the care of the AFCD and is in stable condition,” a department spokesman said.
“The AFCD is liaising with animal welfare organisations for potential adoption arrangements for the emu concerned.”
The bird was captured by police and the SPCA on May 25 after it was spotted running wild around Tin Shui Wai.
Videos posted online show the bird racing cars and strolling through a public housing estate.
Chan Ka-fai, a Yuen Long district councillor and the owner of NT Green Garden Farm, near where the bird was spotted, said he had been told that “nothing is missing” from his property.
The SPCA said last Tuesday that it was not handling the adoption arrangements for the bird. The society explained it only rehomed common domestic pets and that other creatures were handled by Kadoorie Farm or the department.

A spokesman for Kadoorie Farm said on Friday that it was a conservation centre and it would not adopt “large pet birds such as the emu”.
He added that such animals were often bred on farms in mainland China and could not be considered as being removed from the wild.
The spokesman said that the farm’s rescue centre would not accept “wild” animals that had been bred in captivity.
He added that such animals would be directed to the AFCD, which would examine the long-term options available.
“We do rescue endangered wildlife in collaboration with the AFCD – these are generally animals removed directly from the wild by the illegal wildlife trade,” he said.
A spokesman for Ocean Park, which has in the past rehomed a crocodile captured in Pat Heung, on Tuesday, declined to comment and referred questions about the emu to the AFCD.
But a source said there was a low possibility that the emu would be sent to Ocean Park.
The department’s website said stray animals were normally kept for four days in its animal management centres after they came under its care.
They said after that the animals may be put down or rehomed through an animal welfare organisation.
A 2021 Legislative Council background briefing document on the management of stray cats and dogs said that only stray animals in good health and assessed by a veterinary surgeon as having a gentle temperament would be put up for adoption.
“Only animals that remain unclaimed or not adopted at the end of the process will be euthanised,” the document added.
The AFCD did not respond to questions on whether the emu would be put down if it was not adopted or ruled to be unsuitable to go to a new home.
But it said that stray animals taken in by the department would in general be detained in its animal management centres for at least four days to allow owners to reclaim them.
Animals found to be suitable for adoption would be rehomed through animal welfare organisations.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in the United States said emus were widespread in the wild in their native Australia.
They eat seeds, fruit, flowers, young shoots, insects and small vertebrates, such as lizards.
San Diego Zoo, also in the US, said the average lifespan for a wild emu was up to 20 years, but it is common for them to live to about 35 in captivity.


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Bird in the hand a headache for Hong Kong authorities as they hunt for home for escapee emu

An emu runs wild in Tin Shui Wai before police and the SPCA capture it. Photo: Facebook/Bosco Chu

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po has ruled out giving a home to an unclaimed escapee emu. Photo: Winson Wong

Runaway emu will be found new Hong Kong home if owner not identified, government says

The emu was spotted running along roads in the New Territories. Photo:  Facebook/Bosco Chu

NT Green Garden farm has not lost any animals, its owner says. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong’s escaped emu: search still on for owner after bird captured following 3-hour chase on busy roads

The emu was seen running along roads in Tin Shui Wai. Photo: Facebook/Bosco Chu

NT Green Garden farm in Tin Shui Wai was opened in 2021. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Hong Kong

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Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department says no one has come forward to claim big flightless bird as search for new home continues


Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department says no one has come forward to claim big flightless bird as search for new home continues.
