The so-called emu war was a’military operation conducted by a handful of Australian Army personnel from 2 November to 10 December 1932 in the southwestern part of the country with the aim of exterminate the emu populationa bird almost as large as an ostrich, which damaged crops. The “war” took place between November and December 1932, but its the outcome was a failure: Although the military claimed to have killed about a thousand specimens, the vast majority of emus escaped the bullets. To protect their fields, farmers had to introduce stronger fences.
The emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) are large birds, unable to fly. They can reach a height of 150-190 centimetres and about 150 cm in length from tail to beak. The average weight varies between 32 and 37 kg, with minimum and maximum limits of 18 and 60 kg. The emu is the second largest bird in the world after the ostrichto which it is related. Emus live exclusively in Australia and they feed on both plants and insects and other small animals.
The Beginning of the War Against Emus
There war against the emus took place in 1932. In Australia, farmers, in difficulty following the 1929 crisis and the fall in the price of wheat, had brought new areas under cultivation. In October 1932, when the economic situation had become particularly difficult, farmers in the Campion district of Western Australia had to face the emu threat which, due to the breeding season, migrated from the inland areas to the coastal areas. Many farmers were former soldiers who had fought in the First World War and were convinced that machine guns were necessary to drive the animals away. They therefore turned to the Minister of Defense, George Pearcewho agreed to provide assistance.
The government sent Major General John F. Kennedy to Campion District. Meredithalong with two men armed with machine guns. The hunt began on November 2, 1932, but proved to be very “unfruitful”: emus were difficult to spot and often managed to resist bullets. The soldiers eliminated only a few specimens (estimates range between 50 and 500) and on November 8 Parliament suspended the operation.
The second phase of the war and the failure
Despite the failure, on 12 November the Australian Senate approved the resumption of operationswhich were again entrusted to Major Meredith. The “war” continued until December and on average the soldiers killed about 100 emus a week, for a total of 986 specimens. Another 2,500, according to Meredith, were wounded and rendered harmless. The figures are not certain and, even if they were accurate, they would still represent a minimum percentage of emu population: the war, in other words, turned out to be a resounding defeat.
Furthermore, news of the operations against emus also spread abroad and caused the protests by animal rights associationsAustralian farmers, for their part, continued to seek government support, but during the 1930s they introduced a more effective and less cruel system to protect their fields: they built stronger fencesof which, moreover, the Australians were particularly expert, to the point that in the 40s and 50s they built the longest fence in the world (partly already existing previously), to defend the fields from attacks by dingo.
Machine guns were occasionally used against emus after 1932, but did not cause irreversible damage to the species, which is now not listed as endangered.
