Loose emu leads authorities on chase through Florida neighborhoods

Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Police, animal control and state wildlife officers were summoned to a Florida neighborhood in which an emu was reported running loose and chasing locals on the street.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said the emu escaped on the west side of the city Thursday and led deputies, animal control officers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers on a chase through several neighborhoods.

Witnesses said the emu was chasing pedestrians before authorities arrived.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Karen Parker said the emu was captured when it wandered to a local business, Nichols Truck Bodies, and basically entered a dead-end.

"It got into the fenced-in area and got penned up," she told the Florida Times-Union. "They kind of walked this guy into the trailer and apparently he didn't put up much resistance."

Parker said the large bird's owner was out of town, and it had been left in the care of a friend when it escaped.