Within eight years of discovery the dwarf emu of King Island was extinct. Now 200 years later, even the fossils of these birds are at risk by the development of a golf course. Thankfully, some local residents have stepped in to help save them.
When the Europeans first explored the islands off the southern coast of Australia, they found that many had their own species of emu living there. Some of these - including those on Kangaroo and King Island - were much smaller than those living on the mainland, reaching just a metre in height.
Dr Julian Hume, an avian palaeontologist at the Museum, has been surveying King Island on the hunt for the remains of these now-extinct diminutive birds, but came up against the development of a golf course that destroyed the main bone bed known to have preserved dwarf emu bones.
Fossils of extinct dwarf emu destroyed by golf course
When the Europeans first explored the islands off the southern coast of Australia, they found that many had their own species of emu living there. Some of these - including those on Kangaroo and King Island - were much smaller than those living on the mainland, reaching just a metre in height.
Dr Julian Hume, an avian palaeontologist at the Museum, has been surveying King Island on the hunt for the remains of these now-extinct diminutive birds, but came up against the development of a golf course that destroyed the main bone bed known to have preserved dwarf emu bones.
Fossils of extinct dwarf emu destroyed by golf course
