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“Auzzie Steve” came to be with us in February of 2004. He had escaped from an emu farm approximately fifty miles south of the Sanctuary. The local newspaper article said that the emu had been on a cattle farm for two weeks and the original owner didn’t want it back. The owner of the cattle farm stated that if it wasn’t gone by Monday, he would shoot it. We got word of this story three days before on Friday. Douglas and Zachary went to the rescue. The farmer showed them where the emu was, wished them luck, and left to go to town. They came up with a plan. They decided to use a rope placed on the ground with a loop on the end. Shelled corn was used to bait the trap. After five attempts, they finally caught him by the leg and wrestled him to the ground. Zachary blind folded him while Douglas held him down. Afterwards, his feet and legs were bound so he couldn’t injure himself or get away. They loaded him into the back of the truck and made it back safely, and uninjured, to the Sanctuary. He was released into his new enclosure and it wasn’t long before he was eating and drinking as if nothing had happened. Being native to Australia, his name came to be, “Auzzie Steve”. He is nice and gentle, has never kicked anyone (so far), and loves to have his head rubbed while you hug him. At the time of his rescue, he was probably around a year old and weighed about ninety pounds. Now three years later in 2007 he will weigh in at around one hundred thirty pounds. “Auzzie Steve” will live out the rest of his life, protected, and with his girl (Terri), here at the Sanctuary.
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“Terri” came to live with us in July 2005 when she was about four months old. A local emu farmer a few miles from the Sanctuary contacted us and said we could have her. He knew we had “Auzzie Steve” and was kind enough to let us have a companion for him. We kept them apart for a year because of their size difference. In the fall of 2006 we constructed a temporary holding pen for her next to our big boy. They would stand by the fence and look at one another for hours. We were told it would take several weeks, possibly months to let them be together in the same enclosure. Surprise! It took only three days. They have been at each others side since then. “Terri” was very timid before but after being with “Auzzie Steve” she has calmed down enough to let you pet her. Now both birds are together and in love. Hopefully, they will be with us for a long time to teach us and to help us educate.
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