First 43 monkeys got loose, now there’s an emu on the run. Is SC the ‘new Florida’?
Last week in South Carolina, people were searching for 43 monkeys. Now they’re searching for a loose emu.
Residents of Loris and Green Sea shared photos of the large bird running around the countryside of Horry County.
The emu has been surviving on its own since the beginning of summer, according to a Facebook post. Sam Morace posted on Facebook on June 4 that her father’s emu escaped its enclosure.
If the emu is spotted in Horry County, Morace has asked people to not kill it and to contact her.
The bird has not been captured as of Nov. 11, said Morace in a Facebook message to The Sun News.
Horry County Police are aware of the loose emu, spokesperson Mikayla Moskov said by text. They are working to help locate and capture the large bird.
Multiple members of the Facebook group Whats Happening In Loris SC - Original said they’ve seen the animal on S.C. 9, Fair Bluff Highway and Duford Road.
“First monkeys and now an emu!” Greg Lucas, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, said in a text to The Sun News. “SC may be the new Florida!”
Emus are a flightless bird from Australia that can grow to over 5 feet tall, according to the Smithsonian. They can live in forests and woodlands and mostly feed on fruit, flowers, seeds and young tree shoots.
Earlier this fall, there were reports of a monkey on the loose in North Myrtle Beach, The Sun News previously reported. There were also over 40 monkeys that broke out of a facility in Beaufort County last week, according to The Island Packet.
Some of the monkeys have since been caught.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 1:58 PM.
