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The Great Emu War, explained in 5 tweets

How did Australia end up fighting emus? In 1932, around 20,000 emus moved into Western Australia’s wheat belt, where drought, falling wheat prices, and broken fences had already made farmers desperate.[3][5] Punchline: nature saw the open buffet and showed up early.

  • An emu pictured at Brunette Station, Australia, between 1930 and 1932 CREDIT State Library Victoria
  • Emu War, Australia lost war to birds, emu history facts, weird wars, Australia wildlife conflict, emu invasion 1932, Great Emu War explained
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The response was wild: the government sent soldiers with two Lewis machine guns and about 10,000 rounds, under Major G. P. W. Meredith, to cull the birds.[4][16] Punchline: yes, this was real military planning.

  • Gemini said A colorized historical photograph from the 1932 Great Emu War in Australia. Two men in brimmed hats stand in a tall wheat field; one man aims a heavy Lewis machine gun while the second man supports the barrel on his shoulder to act as a human tripod. The background is a pale, hazy sky over the rural landscape.
  • The Great Emu War: How Flightless Birds Beat the Australian Army
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The campaign flopped fast. The emus split into small groups, outran the trucks, and even made a machine gun jam; by the first week, only dozens to a few hundred had been killed, depending on the account.[3][4][16] Punchline: the birds said, "nice try."

  • Emus flock in western Queensland
  • a group of birds in a field
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The army pulled back on 8 November 1932, then returned after more farmer pressure; by December, Meredith claimed 986 confirmed kills with 9,860 rounds, but that figure is disputed.[2][4][7] Punchline: a war with very bad ammo math.

  • a man holding a bird
  • Emu War, Australia lost war to birds, emu history facts, weird wars, Australia wildlife conflict, emu invasion 1932, Great Emu War explained
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The big lesson? Machine guns were the wrong tool for a wildlife problem. Later fixes leaned on bounties and stronger fencing, while the emus kept their reputation as Australia's most embarrassing undefeated enemy.[5][6][16][17] Punchline: when the fence wins, the birds do too.

  • Emus on the beach in Western Australia Emus Crossing Western Australian beach emus in outback australia stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images
  • a large group of birds walking on a road
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Which part of the Great Emu War surprised you most? Reply, quote, or retweet this for the friend who still thinks it was a meme.[3][5] Sources summary: National Geographic, Wikipedia, History Hit, HistoryExtra, Popular Mechanics, and Forbes.

  • The Great Emu War of Australia: How a Nation Took Up Arms Against Birds—And Lost (Strange Events in History and How they Happ
  • Letters from the Emu War: Correspondence from those who claimed victory in the great emu war of 1932
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