A flock of excited emus were filmed running amok during an Australian rules football match in the Australian outback.
Footage posted on social media on Saturday shows six of Australia’s largest native birds running erratically during a football match.
In the clip, believed to have been filmed in Western Australia, players on the field appear remarkably unfazed by the animals and continue playing the match as normal.
‘Outback players at local football,’ captioned TikTok account Madmonday, who originally uploaded the video.
Amused followers took to the comments section to point out how hilarious the sight was.
“Something I never thought I’d see,” one user posted.
“That’s about as entertaining as the AFL will ever get,” another joked.
“A normal Australian Sunday afternoon,” said a third.
A flock of Australia’s largest native bird disrupted a local football match
Emus travel mainly alone or in pairs, but rarely gather in large flocks.
Tall birds will travel in flocks to head to an area that has a better food supply.
During the summer months, emus consume mainly seeds, flowers, grass and insects.
Baby emus typically stay with their father for up to a year and a half before setting off on their own.
During the mating season, female emus court males and sometimes fight with other females for access to them.
After the female lays her eggs, she moves away and can mate with other males.
In other cases, she stays to defend the nest with the male until the eggs hatch. Once they hatch, she leaves the nest.
The sighting of the flock of emus comes after two cheeky emus returned to an outback village after being banned from the local pub.
The animals, Kevin and Carol, spent months terrorising the Yaraka Hotel in Yaraka, south-west Queensland, stealing food, drinks and even car keys from guests.
Two emus, Kevin (pictured) and Carol, once terrorised the Yaraka Hotel in Yaraka, south-west Queensland, stealing food, drinks and even car keys from customers.
The Yaraka Hotel, in the remote orange sand desert of south-west Queensland, has barricaded its entrances in an effort to stop the feathered bandits.
The emus were so mischievous that the owner was forced to impose a lifetime ban on them and barricade the entrance to prevent them from entering.
The couple were much loved by the town’s 20 residents, but disappeared in January.
But Yaraka resident Leanne Byrne, an unofficial emu carer, said she had since seen the siblings return to town and one of them now had four chicks.
Ms Byrne leaves Yaraka for a few months each year to work and said the couple usually return from the desert when she returns.
But the emus failed to return to Yaraka earlier this year after being taken out for a walk in January, and Ms Byrne struggled to find them.
Mrs Byrne was given nine emu eggs that had been found by local workers, but only Kevin and Carol survived.
The animal lover said the pair, who are siblings, “love hugs.”
Ms Byrne hopes the emus will stay away from the city until the chicks are grown and can fend for themselves.
“They’re not my pets. They just tend to stay around and everyone takes care of them. They’re still wild animals,” she told ABC.
