Family says fireworks scared their emu, leading to his death

Photo: Tristyn Hay

Blue the emu died after his owner says he was frightened by fireworks on New Year's Eve and escaped his enclosure on Curtis Road.

A family says a neighbour’s security camera footage has helped solve the mystery of why and how their pet emu escaped.

Tristyn Hay says blue, a two-year-old male emu, jumped the fence at their farm along Curtis Road on New Year’s Eve, after someone nearby set off fireworks.

She says the bird was frightened, jumped up against the fence and became caught. He eventually freed himself and took off into the surrounding area, near UBC Okanagan and the Glenmore Landfill.

Unfortunately for Blue, coyotes picked up his scent and chased him over an embankment to his death.

“People don’t realize how terrible fireworks are on animals,” says Hay. “It was our neighbours (sic) camera that helped inform us of the details of the loss of our sweet bey.”

Fireworks are banned within the City of Kelowna, yet she says someone in her area sets them off every year.

Hay’s family aren’t the only ones mourning Blue. His partner Bea, a female emu, was pacing the fence line for hours after her companion got out.

“She’s quite a bit smaller so I don’t think she would have been able to clear the fence like he did,” said Hay in January.

She and her husband had always dreamed of owning a farm and having emus. When they moved into their property on Curtis Road, the pair was one of their first additions.