Tasmanian Emu
Description
Tasmanians emu's are believed to be similar to the (mainland) Emu but smaller and darker. This emu have black long legs with three toes and grow up to 1.5 to 2 metres tall. Since they have long legs, they can run up to 29 km per hour. The body of an emu consists of shaggy grey-brown soft-feathers, which is like undeveloped coarse hair. Also, this species also have wide soft and black beaks.
Tasmanians emu's are believed to be similar to the (mainland) Emu but smaller and darker. This emu have black long legs with three toes and grow up to 1.5 to 2 metres tall. Since they have long legs, they can run up to 29 km per hour. The body of an emu consists of shaggy grey-brown soft-feathers, which is like undeveloped coarse hair. Also, this species also have wide soft and black beaks.
Diet
The Emu (mainland) is omnivorous, eating seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves and other plant material, and insects and their larvae.
The Emu (mainland) is omnivorous, eating seeds, fruits, flowers, leaves and other plant material, and insects and their larvae.
Habitat
Found on Tasmania. It is thought that they appeared in dry forest and grasslands and similar 'park-like' habitats (Dove 1924; Green 1989), and possibly also in upland plains and marshes.
Found on Tasmania. It is thought that they appeared in dry forest and grasslands and similar 'park-like' habitats (Dove 1924; Green 1989), and possibly also in upland plains and marshes.
Aboriginal Story
Goolbree - How the Emu Lost Its Wings
A LONG TIME AGO, in the Dreamtime, emus were huge birds that had big wings, with beautiful feathers.
One old man emu was named Goolbree. He was tall, strong and held his head high. Because they were the best to be seen on the plains, Goolbree was proud of his beautiful feathers. There was one thing wrong with old Goolbree. He was a very hasty old fella and was always playing tricks on others.
Old Goolbree was very jealous of the flock of beautiful Brolgas that camped not too far away. He hated to see them happy and dancing. When the Brolgas knew he was watching them, they would dance even more gracefully.
That beautiful dance would make old Goolbree wild, and he would become even angrier, trying to peck at them whenever they were passing.
It was the same with the Kookaburras. He didn’t like to see them or hear their laughter from the big gum trees. Olf Goolbree always called them names, look "googlee eyes." he kept trying to kick a sand at the Kookaburras or many other little birds.
Bundah, the big grey kangaroo, was the only creature old Goolbree was not cheeky to. This was because Bunda was as tall as Goolbree, who was frightened of the kangaroo's strong tail and his long sharp claws.
Old Goolbree became cheekier and more aggressive toward the others. In the camp, his manners were no better. Daily he would send his wives and all the little dennewans out looking for quongdongs and other wild berried, even though he know, the closest quongdong tree was many miles away.
The dennewans all knew the quongdongs were his favourite of the while fruits and berries. They walked and walked for miles, but found no quongdongs.
One day, when they walked for miles across the plains seeking to gather food, a big rainstorm came up. It rained and rained. The rain pelted down and, as there was no shelter, the old wives and little dennewans were soaked to the skin. There was not a dry feather on their bodies.
When they returned to camp, they were horrified to find their eggs lying out of their nests, wet uncovered and said nasty things to them. He boasted about stealing wood from the pelicans.
In order to dry their feathers, the wives had to make a fire. They gathered all the dry sticks they could find and made a really big fire.
When old Goolbree was sneaking off, the Brolgas came by. When they saw his stumpy wings, they danced with joy. The kookaburras also laughed and laughed, from the top of the big gum trees.
Some of the fire must have scorched the eggs a little, because since that day, all emus have stumpy wings. After that, Old Goolbree changed and he now helps his wife to look after the nest.
Today, if anyone's hunting or searching for emu eggs, old Goolbree, that male emu, will lead them away from the nest. Many people don't know that where he just ran from, the emu mother is sitting on a nest of eggs.
Goolbree - How the Emu Lost Its Wings
A LONG TIME AGO, in the Dreamtime, emus were huge birds that had big wings, with beautiful feathers.
One old man emu was named Goolbree. He was tall, strong and held his head high. Because they were the best to be seen on the plains, Goolbree was proud of his beautiful feathers. There was one thing wrong with old Goolbree. He was a very hasty old fella and was always playing tricks on others.
Old Goolbree was very jealous of the flock of beautiful Brolgas that camped not too far away. He hated to see them happy and dancing. When the Brolgas knew he was watching them, they would dance even more gracefully.
That beautiful dance would make old Goolbree wild, and he would become even angrier, trying to peck at them whenever they were passing.
It was the same with the Kookaburras. He didn’t like to see them or hear their laughter from the big gum trees. Olf Goolbree always called them names, look "googlee eyes." he kept trying to kick a sand at the Kookaburras or many other little birds.
Bundah, the big grey kangaroo, was the only creature old Goolbree was not cheeky to. This was because Bunda was as tall as Goolbree, who was frightened of the kangaroo's strong tail and his long sharp claws.
Old Goolbree became cheekier and more aggressive toward the others. In the camp, his manners were no better. Daily he would send his wives and all the little dennewans out looking for quongdongs and other wild berried, even though he know, the closest quongdong tree was many miles away.
The dennewans all knew the quongdongs were his favourite of the while fruits and berries. They walked and walked for miles, but found no quongdongs.
One day, when they walked for miles across the plains seeking to gather food, a big rainstorm came up. It rained and rained. The rain pelted down and, as there was no shelter, the old wives and little dennewans were soaked to the skin. There was not a dry feather on their bodies.
When they returned to camp, they were horrified to find their eggs lying out of their nests, wet uncovered and said nasty things to them. He boasted about stealing wood from the pelicans.
In order to dry their feathers, the wives had to make a fire. They gathered all the dry sticks they could find and made a really big fire.
When old Goolbree was sneaking off, the Brolgas came by. When they saw his stumpy wings, they danced with joy. The kookaburras also laughed and laughed, from the top of the big gum trees.
Some of the fire must have scorched the eggs a little, because since that day, all emus have stumpy wings. After that, Old Goolbree changed and he now helps his wife to look after the nest.
Today, if anyone's hunting or searching for emu eggs, old Goolbree, that male emu, will lead them away from the nest. Many people don't know that where he just ran from, the emu mother is sitting on a nest of eggs.
Extinction
The subspecies was hunted for its meat and its eggs taken, which are assumed to be the cause of its extinction. They were often kept in captivity, especially birds taken from the wild as young birds, or those raised from chicks that hatched from eggs collected in the wild. One a captive bird is reported to have survived until 1873.
The subspecies was hunted for its meat and its eggs taken, which are assumed to be the cause of its extinction. They were often kept in captivity, especially birds taken from the wild as young birds, or those raised from chicks that hatched from eggs collected in the wild. One a captive bird is reported to have survived until 1873.