Escaped emu on loose in Doncaster for sixth day

Bird is six foot tall and can’t fly – but officials and owner struggling to find it

Ethel the escaped emu (Screengrab / Facebook)

It is a six foot bird that moves at speeds of up to 30mph, cannot fly and is native to Australia – so you might assume an escaped emu would be easy to spot in Doncaster.

But one such bird legged it from a private wood in South Yorkshire six days ago and hasn’t been recaptured since.

Police and RSPCA officers attempting to trace the distinctive animal, called Ethel, have received more than a dozen reported sightings including one almost 10 miles away.

But catching her has so far proved impossible.

“She’s been running since Thursday so could be anywhere,” said owner Kerry Dobson on Facebook. “She's had stones thrown at her and all sorts. She's not used to being out she must be terrified.”

Ethel fled her home on wild land in the Sprotbrough area, after apparently being spooked by passers-by taking photos, and appears to be in no mood to return.

Each sighting has resulted in the bird running away, reports suggest.

“We tried to get close to it to see if we could sort of guide her somewhere before contacting the owners,” said Casey Brown, who captured Ethel on camera. "But we had no chance."

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “The last sightings suggested it was heading back towards where it was believed to live in Sprotbrough, but we are unable to confirm if it was reunited with its owner as it ran off from officers and we then could not locate it.”

The RSPCA added: "We've advised that we will come out to try to catch it if it is in an enclosed area it can't escape from, so it sounds like it's still at large at the moment.”

But Rod Bloor, who owns the land on which the emu lives, appeared unworried when he spoke to reporters on Monday. He said the bird would come home if left alone.