The Economic Times

In 1932, an army of soldiers fought 20,000 emus with machine guns. The flightless birds defeated the military operation, two times

Australia faced an unusual crisis when up to 20,000 emus moved into Western Australias wheat-growing region in 1932 and damaged the crops and fences. The government responded by sending soldiers armed with machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition. What followed was an unexpected military setback, as the fast-moving birds proved quite difficult to target, forcing the army to withdraw and return for a second attempt.