Latin name: Dromaius novaehollandiae

Eater of Small Stones!

• Adapted to sprinting and distance running, its powerful legs are also strong enough to break fences or seriously injure a predator.

• Its big five-centimeter wide eyes are among the largest of all vertebrates; they are even larger than its brain! It sees in colour and in the dark.

• To better grind its eaten food, it might swallow 50 g stones. It seems that these small stones are dissolved by gastric juices.

• Flightless, it can reach a speed of 48 km/hr. Surprisingly, it is also an excellent swimmer; it has been found on islands over five kilometers away from continental Australia.

• When the British arrived, it was widely hunted for its meat, its oil and its eggs. The introduction of mass farming was beneficial to the species: it enjoys crops so much that it has become a pest in some regions.