In 1932, Australia declared war on emus, and 10 crazy facts about this oddball conflict still fascinate readers today. By most accounts, the feathered foes actually won, turning the episode into a favorite internet legend that pops up on every site devoted to bizarre history.
10 Crazy Facts About the Emu War
10 The Emu Were Legitimately Ruining Lives
“Those who didn’t live with the emu couldn’t understand the damage they did,” declared George Pearce, Australia’s Minister for Defense. He was spot‑on: the birds were wreaking havoc on everyday life.
The farmers who took up arms against the emus weren’t just ordinary laborers. They were veterans of the First World War, and after the armistice the government settled more than 5,000 of them on the wild western frontier to cultivate the land. The Emu War thus became a clash between settlers on a harsh frontier and the native birds that roamed it.
Initially, the wheat‑growing pioneers were turning a profit, but a severe drought drove the emus to migrate toward the croplands. They ripped through fences, trampled fields, and even cleared pathways for rabbits to invade.
Countless pounds of produce vanished under the emus’ onslaught. Some growers abandoned their plots and headed east, others threatened to quit, and a handful, driven to hopelessness, even took their own lives.
Faced with this crisis, the ex‑soldiers demanded a simple solution: a few machine guns. They were convinced that firepower would swiftly eradicate the feathered menace.
9 The Minister For Defense Thought It Would Be Good PR
George Pearce, the man who green‑lighted the Emu War, wasn’t about to hand over weapons to civilians, but he saw no obstacle to dispatching a handful of troops westward. He did exactly that.
Pearce had a personal stake in eliminating the birds. The government had settled farmers in the west, and their crops were under siege. When the farmers begged for machine guns and trucks, Pearce’s motivation went beyond generosity: he saw a golden PR opportunity.
He even sent a camera crew along with the soldiers, hoping the footage would showcase his dedication to rural voters. Pearce imagined himself as a hero who would annihilate the emus, rescue the farms, and cement his legacy.
He framed the operation as target practice for the troops and ordered them to bring back a hundred emu skins, intending to line the light‑horsemen’s hats with their feathers.
Yet Pearce wasn’t entirely naïve. He anticipated backlash and made the farmers foot the bill, binding them with a contract that absolved the government if the venture failed.
8 People In The Cities Were Outraged
The true opponent for the farmers wasn’t the emus; it was the urban establishment. When city dwellers learned of Pearce’s plan, they erupted in protest.
Senator James Guthrie spearheaded the opposition, dubbing the operation “The Emu War.” He decried it as “unnecessary cruelty,” insisting any solution should be “more humane, if less spectacular.”
Pearce retorted, “It is no more cruel to kill the bird with machine‑guns than with rifles,” but the metropolitan press remained unconvinced. Newspapers on the east coast ran pieces branding the campaign a “brutal form of mass slaughter” while simultaneously glorifying the emu as a national icon.
Nonetheless, the farmers pressed on. A headline proclaimed, “The farmers would adopt any effective methods to protect their crops, and would not ask the permission of anyone before doing so.”
7 The Emu Used Advanced Guerrilla Tactics
“The emu,” warned Sydney’s Sunday Herald, “is a tough and unpredictable adversary.”
It’s easy to underestimate a flightless bird. When Major G. P. W. Meredith led his militia westward, he assumed a quick victory. Armed with machine guns capable of 300 rounds per minute and over 10,000 rounds of ammunition, he believed a simple point‑and‑shoot would suffice.
During the first assault, the militia opened fire from a distance of several hundred yards. The emus scattered instantly, sprinting at speeds exceeding 50 km/h. Their rapid dispersion left the soldiers with no chance of a clean kill.
One writer quipped that “the Emu command had evidently ordered guerrilla tactics,” noting the birds’ surprising cleverness. Soldiers reported that each flock seemed to have a leader—a towering, black‑plumed individual that stood six feet tall, kept watch, and warned its mates of approaching danger.
These observations highlighted how the birds adapted quickly once hunting season began, turning the supposed easy target into a cunning foe.
6 Emus Have The Invulnerability Of Tanks
By the second day, Major Meredith realized a new approach was needed. No longer would they fire from afar; they attempted to close in on the birds before opening fire.
Meredith’s men stalked a thousand‑strong flock, getting within just 100 yards before unleashing a barrage. The machine guns rattled nonstop until they had to reload, yet when the smoke cleared, fewer than a dozen emus lay dead.
One frustrated officer reported that the birds “could face machine‑guns with the invulnerability of tanks.” Their dense plumage seemed to deflect the rounds, preventing penetration.
Soldiers concluded that the only reliable method was a precise shot: either through the back of the head when the beak was shut, or through the front when the beak was open.
Meredith was stunned, remarking that a military unit with the bullet‑carrying capacity of those birds could challenge any army on Earth.
5 The Army Tried To Pick On Easier Emus
After the second day’s disappointment, Meredith and his squad withdrew, seeking a supposedly more docile population further north, where locals claimed the emus were “fairly tame.”
They mounted nine trucks, each crowned with a machine gun, and drove straight into the birds’ path, hoping the vehicle‑mounted firepower would finally tip the scales.
Nevertheless, the emus detected the approaching convoy and bolted, maintaining a kilometer lead. When a truck did manage to collide with an emu, the bird became wedged in the steering gear, causing the vehicle to swerve and demolish half a fence line.
4 Bad Press Killed The Operation
As the Emu War trudged forward, public sentiment shifted dramatically. Newspapers reported that the operation had taken down as few as twenty birds, casting doubt on its efficacy.
Although Meredith claimed a tally of 300 emus, the press’s figures dominated public opinion, turning Pearce’s PR stunt into a farcical embarrassment.
On November 8, Pearce back‑tracked, stating he did not wish to set a precedent for using machine guns against wildlife.
Perth’s Daily News mocked the outcome, noting, “No treaty of peace has been concluded, and the emus remain in possession of disputed territory.” The militia had barely dented the estimated 10,000‑bird population, and the soldiers were sent home, leaving the farmers to shoulder the cost.
3 The Farmers Kept The Fight Alive
Major Meredith refused to abandon the cause. Even after the official order to withdraw, he and two gunners lingered westward, patrolling fences and shooting any emu they encountered.
The settlers, unwilling to accept defeat, rallied behind a new champion: Labor Party Secretary George Lambert. A desperate farmer sent Lambert a telegram pleading, “Gunners withdrawn. Imperative they should stay. Emus beginning to reappear in large numbers. Can you do anything?”
Lambert answered with fury, berating city politicians as “pussy‑foots” for downplaying the war. He, alongside the Premier of Western Australia, vowed to continue the campaign, regardless of urban disapproval.
2 The Second Emu War Went Better
On November 11, Pearce reversed his stance, announcing, “Strong representations have been made to me, and I have approved the machine‑gun party returning to the wheat belt to destroy thousands of emus causing tremendous crop damage.” The war was reignited.
Learning from earlier failures, Meredith’s crew achieved a breakthrough: on the first day they eliminated 300 birds, surpassing the total kills from the previous campaign.
As weeks passed, the emus grew more cautious, yet the militia still averaged about 100 kills per week. Other farmers, hearing of the renewed success, petitioned Lambert for assistance.
By the time the troops finally returned home, they had slain an estimated 3,500 emus. The city papers, having exhausted their jokes, relegated the final report to the “Country News” section, noting that crops were thriving and the birds were too frightened to return.
1 The Farmers Wanted To Do It Again
Three years later, another drought drove the emus back onto the farms. The western growers begged for a third Emu War, but the government, embarrassed by global ridicule, declined to repeat the military approach.
Instead, they introduced a “beak bonus” bounty system, rewarding anyone who turned in an emu beak. In the first two months, 13,000 birds fell, and by the end of the first year, 30,000 beaks had been claimed.
By the 1950s, Australia erected a 135‑mile “emu‑proof fence,” finally curbing the raids. Yet the western farmers never forgot the original fight; they continued to call on militia whenever the birds resurfaced, honoring the men who had once saved their livelihoods.