[Danielle F.]

Fact of the Day: The Great Emu War of 1932​

In 1932, a drought in Australia caused about 20,000 emus to move inland. These emus then started destroying farmers’ crops.

The government sent in World War I veterans to assist the beleaguered farmers.

Though they were outfitted with machine guns, they soon found themselves overwhelmed by their flightless foes.

Learn more about the bizarre war against Emus that took place in the 1930s here:

Source: ABC Australia/YouTube​

 

[Suzanne rose]

A very interesting part of our history


It all came about late in 1932, after a marauding emu population of at least 20,000 had been devastating farms across WA for some time. The farmers under attack (many of them ex-soldiers themselves) had eventually petitioned for military aid from the Minister of Defence George Pearce. He deployed troops swiftly, and they arrived with hopes of quick victory and a few emu feathers for their hats.

No sooner had the conflict begun, however, than it became clear that the Australian military had vastly underestimated the emu. Cunning adversaries, the emus proved almost impossible to hit with machine-gun fire, and they seemed able to shrug off even serious injury from bullets without breaking stride.

A few days into operations, a planned ambush by a dam failed miserably when one of the Lewis guns jammed. A later attempt to mount a machine-gun on a truck fell apart when it was made apparent that the vehicle could not keep up with the birds.

Although a second (slightly) more successful military operation was mounted against the emus only a few days after the initial retreat in November 1932, in the end it was the instituting of a bounty on emus that proved most effective. Between 1945 and 1960 around 284,700 emus were killed in WA.

Australia’s emu population, however, remains stable to this day. Thankfully, they do not seem interested in resuming hostilities with the Australian government.

 

[novezar]

I remember reeding this same type story some years ago.

 

[Veggiepatch]

Reminds me of the Dana Lyons' song "Cows With Guns"....

 

[Suzanne rose]

You also had the war of the rabbits which is why The Rabbit proof fence was made

The rabbit-proof fence in Western Australia was built to control the spread of rabbits, which were causing significant damage to agricultural land and native vegetation after their introduction in the late 19th century. The fence was intended to prevent rabbits from moving further west into the state's agricultural regions

European settlers introduced rabbits to Australia in the mid-1800s, initially for sport.

Rabbits thrived in the Australian environment and multiplied rapidly, becoming a major pest.

Their voracious appetites led to widespread destruction of crops and pastures, threatening the livelihoods of farmers.

The rabbits also impacted native vegetation

In response to the growing crisis, the Western Australian government initiated the construction of the Rabbit Proof Fence.

The fence was designed to act as a barrier, preventing rabbits from moving further west into the state's agricultural areas.

The first fence was completed in 1907, stretching over 1,833 kilometers from south to north.