Emu: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the emu lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Dromaius novaehollandiae
Group	Ostriches, emus, kiwis & rheas
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Oceania
Mass	581 g (birth weight); 32.7 kg (male organism, adult weight); 38.3 kg (female organism, adult weight)
Class	Bird
Order	Casuariiformes
Family	Casuariidae

Where does the emu live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the emu in 1 country or territory across Oceania. Wikidata lists it as endemic to Australia.

Australia

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an emu?

Wikidata records the following for the emu: mass 581 g (birth weight); 32.7 kg (male organism, adult weight); 38.3 kg (female organism, adult weight).

Is the emu endangered?

The emu’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the emu?

The emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a bird in the order Casuariiformes and the family Casuariidae, genus Dromaius. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the emu

The emu (; Dromaius novaehollandiae) is a species of flightless bird endemic to Australia, where it is the tallest native bird. It is the only extant member of the genus Dromaius and the third-tallest living bird after its African ratite relatives, the common ostrich and Somali ostrich. The emu's native ranges cover most of the Australian mainland. The Tasmanian, Kangaroo Island and King Island subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788.

The emu has soft, brown feathers, a long neck, and long legs. It can grow up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in height. It is a robust bipedal runner that can travel great distances, and when necessary can sprint at 48 km/h (30 mph). It is omnivorous and forages on a variety of plants and insects, and can go for weeks without eating. It drinks infrequently, but takes in copious amounts of fresh water when the opportunity arises.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Emu (revision 1374578295), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q93208 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).