In 1932, Australia declared war… on emus. Yes — the giant, flightless birds.

After World War I, veterans in Western Australia were given land to farm. But they weren’t told their biggest enemy wouldn’t be drought, or prices, or pests — it would be emus. Thousands of them. Giant, fast, unstoppable.

The farmers complained to the government, who (incredibly) sent in soldiers with machine guns. The plan? Chase the emus into a trap and mow them down.

Reality? Total disaster. The emus ran too fast, scattered too well, and dodged like feathery ninjas. The soldiers’ guns jammed. Trucks got stuck. After several failed campaigns and 10,000 rounds of ammo… less than 1,000 emus were taken down. The rest just... walked it off.

The government admitted defeat. The emus had won.
To this day, the “Great Emu War” remains one of history’s most hilariously bizarre military failures.