The Great Emu War

The Great Emu War of 1932 occurred in Western Australia when emus began invading farmland and damaging crops. After World War I, many Australian veterans became farmers under government assistance and, following the depression of the 1930s, they were already struggling economically. The arrival of approximately 20,000 emus migrating inland made matters worse. Hence, the farmers called upon the military for assistance. The government deployed soldiers armed with machine guns in an effort to reduce the emu population. However, despite a few thousand emus being killed, the operation was largely ineffective due to the birds' surprising resilience and the vast area of their distribution, which made it difficult to engage them en masse. The military eventually withdrew, and farmers endured further crop destruction, which led to public criticism towards the government’s handling of the situation. The 'war' was seen as an embarrassing failure, and even today it’s often mentioned humorously.

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