What Was the Great Emu War? The 1932 Story Explained

Why did the Emu War happen?

After World War I, many returning soldiers were given land to farm in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, often in dry, marginal country. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, they were urged to grow more wheat, but prices kept falling and promised government subsidies never arrived. By 1932 many of these farmers were struggling.

Then the emus arrived. Emus are nomadic birds that move long distances after the breeding season in search of food and water. Farmland cleared for wheat and water supplies dug for livestock made the district very attractive, and around 20,000 emus moved into farms near Chandler and Walgoolan, in the Campion district. They ate and trampled the crops and knocked holes in rabbit-proof fences, which let rabbits in as well.

To understand why emus travel like this, see our emu profile. Their wandering, opportunistic way of life is exactly what brought them onto the farms.

Why were soldiers sent?

A group of ex-soldier farmers met the Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce. Having served in the war, they knew what machine guns could do and asked for them. Pearce agreed, with conditions: the guns had to be handled by army personnel, the state government would pay for transport, and the farmers would provide food, lodging and the cost of the ammunition.

The team was tiny. Major G. P. W. Meredith of the Royal Australian Artillery led two soldiers armed with two Lewis machine guns and about 10,000 rounds of ammunition. A newsreel cameraman was also sent along, and some historians suggest the government partly saw the mission as a way of being seen to help hard-pressed farmers.

What happened during the Emu War?

The first attempt (2–8 November 1932). Rain delayed the start, which allowed the emus to spread out. When the team finally went into action, the birds proved very hard to approach. They split into small groups and ran, so most were out of range. Even an ambush at a farm dam, where over a thousand emus were seen, achieved little before a gun jammed.

Mounting a gun on a truck did not help either: the vehicle could not keep up with the birds over rough ground. After about a week and roughly 2,500 rounds fired, estimates of emus killed ranged from about 50 to a few hundred. After critical newspaper coverage and questions in Parliament, the soldiers were withdrawn on 8 November.

The second attempt (13 November to about 10 December 1932). Emus kept raiding crops, and the farmers and the Premier of Western Australia pressed for help. The minister agreed to resume the operation, and Meredith returned to the field. This time the team had more success. In his report, Meredith claimed 986 confirmed kills using 9,860 rounds, plus about 2,500 birds he believed had later died of wounds. Historians treat these figures as uncertain and likely exaggerated.

Why did the operation fail?

Several things worked against the army:

• Emu behavior. Emus are wary, keep watch while feeding and run at up to about 48 km/h (30 mph). Faced with danger, the flocks broke into many small groups, which made machine guns very inefficient.
• The scale of the problem. Even the highest claimed totals were small compared with the estimated 20,000 birds in the district.
• Cost and public reaction. The operation used a lot of ammunition for modest results and drew ridicule in the press. In Britain, some conservationists protested against what they saw as the slaughter of a native bird.

Major Meredith himself praised the birds’ toughness and agility after the campaign, and Australian ornithologist Dominic Serventy later joked that the emus had used guerrilla tactics against the soldiers.

What happened after the Emu War?

Farmers asked for military help again in 1934, 1943 and 1948, but the government refused each time. Instead, Western Australia continued a bounty system that had begun in 1923, and over 57,000 bounties were claimed in a six-month period in 1934. Exclusion fences, built to keep emus, dingoes and rabbits out of farmland, also became widely used from the 1930s onward.

Attitudes have since changed a great deal. Wild emus are now protected under Australian law, and the IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. Fencing, rather than culling, is the main tool used to keep emus away from crops.

Why is the Emu War so famous today?

The story of soldiers with machine guns being outmaneuvered by flightless birds has made the Emu War one of the best-known odd episodes of the 20th century. It is retold in books, internet jokes and comedy films, and it is often used as an example of a heavy-handed solution to a wildlife problem.

Behind the humor is a serious lesson about wildlife and farming. Emus did not “win” by strategy: they simply behaved as nomadic, wary, fast-running birds always do. The episode shows how changing the land, by clearing it and adding water, can draw wild animals into conflict with people. It also echoes Australia’s other wildlife problems of the time, such as the spread of rabbits in Australia.

Myths about the Emu War

Myth: Australia declared war on emus. There was no declaration of war. The name “Emu War” came from newspapers, which enjoyed the idea of soldiers fighting birds.

Myth: the emus defeated a whole army. The “army” was one officer and two soldiers with two guns. The operation was stopped because it was costly and ineffective, not because of any battle.

Myth: the Emu War wiped out the emu. Emus remain common across mainland Australia today. The extinct island emus of Tasmania, King Island and Kangaroo Island had already disappeared in the 1800s, long before 1932.