March 6 (UPI) -- Animal control officers in Colorado were dispatched to round up a reported "ostrich" that turned out to be an escaped emu.
The Weld County Sheriff's Office said animal control officers and patrol deputies responded Tuesday to a report of an "ostrich in the roadway" in the area of Weld county roads 76 and 33.
"When WCSO arrived, we learned we were not dealing with one of the largest birds in the world, but maybe the second- or third-largest bird in the world (depending on your source), an emu," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post.
The responders were able to "utilize their 'contain and capture' skills" by wrangling the emu into the fenced-in yard of a willing nearby resident.
A passerby suggested the emu likely belonged to a local man, Andrew Leffler, who was then contacted by the sheriff's office.
Leffler arrived on the scene and confirmed that the emu, named Buddy, was his escaped pet.
Buddy was safely loaded into a trailer and taken home.
