Editing Emu (section)

=== Economic value ===
In the areas in which it was [[Endemism|endemic]], the emu was an important source of meat to [[Aboriginal Australians]]. They used the fat as [[bush medicine]] and rubbed it into their skin. It served as a valuable [[lubricant]], was used to oil wooden tools and [[Kitchen utensil|utensils]] such as the [[Coolamon (vessel)|coolamon]], and was mixed with [[ochre]] to make the traditional paint for ceremonial body [[adornment]].<ref>Eastman, pp. 62–64.</ref> Their eggs were also foraged for food.<ref>Clarke, P. A. (2018). Aboriginal foraging practices and crafts involving birds in the post-European period of the Lower Murray, South Australia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 142(1), 1–26. {{doi|10.1080/03721426.2017.1415588}}</ref>

An example of how the emu was cooked comes from the [[Arrernte people|Arrernte]] of Central Australia who called it ''Kere ankerre'':

{{Blockquote|Emus are around all the time, in green times and dry times. You pluck the feathers out first, then pull out the crop from the stomach, and put in the feathers you've pulled out, and then singe it on the fire. You wrap the milk guts that you've pulled out into something [such as] gum leaves and cook them. When you've got the fat off, you cut the meat up and cook it on fire made from [[Eucalyptus camaldulensis|river red gum]] wood.<ref>{{cite book |author=Turner, Margaret–Mary |title=Arrernte Foods: Foods from Central Australia |publisher=IAD Press |location=Alice Springs, Northern Territory |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-949659-76-7 |page=47}}</ref>}}

[[File:Feeding farmed Emu.jpg|thumb|alt=Farmed emu|Farmed emu being grain fed]]

The birds were a food and fuel source for early European settlers, and are now farmed, in Australia and elsewhere, for their meat, [[Emu oil|oil]] and leather. Commercial emu farming started in Western Australia around 1970.<ref>{{cite book |title=Commercial emu raising : using cool climate forage based production systems : a report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation |last=Nicholls |first=Jason |year=1998 |publisher=Barton, A.C.T. : Rural Industries Research and Development Corp. |isbn=978-0-642-57869-3 |url=https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/98-147 |access-date=15 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715170915/https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/98-147 |archive-date=15 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The commercial industry in the country is based on stock bred in captivity, and all states except Tasmania have licensing requirements to protect wild emus. Outside Australia, emus are farmed on a large scale in North America, with about 1&nbsp;million birds in the US,<ref name="USDA">{{cite web|url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/poultry-preparation/ratites-emu-ostrich-and-rhea/CT_Index |title=Ratites (Emu, Ostrich, and Rhea) |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date= 2 August 2013 |access-date=15 July 2015}}</ref> Peru, and China, and to a lesser extent in some other countries. Emus breed well in captivity, and are kept in large open pens to avoid the leg and digestive problems that arise from inactivity. They are typically fed on grain supplemented by grazing, and are slaughtered at 15 to 18&nbsp;months.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_manuals/emu.html |title=Commercial Emu Production |author=Davis, Gary S. |date=29 May 2007 |publisher=North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service |access-date=30 July 2015}}</ref>

The [[Salem district]] administration in India advised farmers in 2012 not to invest in the emu business which was being heavily promoted at the time; further investigation was needed to assess the profitability of farming the birds in India.<ref>{{cite news |title=Don't invest in Emu farms, say Salem authorities |author=Saravanan, L. |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Dont-invest-in-Emu-farms-say-Salem-authorities/articleshow/12763999.cms?referral=PM |newspaper=The Times of India |date=21 April 2012}}</ref> In the United States, it was reported in 2013 that many ranchers had left the emu business; it was estimated that the number of growers had dropped from over five thousand in 1998 to one or two thousand in 2013. The remaining growers increasingly rely on sales of oil for their profit, although, leather, eggs, and meat are also sold.<ref name=NYT02713>{{cite news|title=Ranchers find hope in flightless bird's fat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/us/emu-oil-aids-the-survival-of-an-unusual-industry.html |access-date=8 February 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 February 2013 |author=Robbins, Jim}}</ref>

[[File:Baudin emus.jpg|thumb|right|1807 plate showing now extinct island emus taken to France for breeding purposes in 1804]]

Emus are farmed primarily for their meat, leather, feathers and oil, and 95% of the carcass can be used.<ref name="USDA"/> Emu meat is a low-fat product (less than 1.5% fat), and is comparable to other lean meats. Most of the usable portions (the best cuts come from the thigh and the larger muscles of the drum or lower leg) are, like other [[poultry]], dark meat; emu meat is considered for cooking purposes by the US [[Food and Drug Administration]] to be a [[red meat]] because its red colour and [[pH]] value approximate that of beef,<ref name="USDA" /> but for inspection purposes it is considered to be poultry.
Emu fat is rendered to produce oil for cosmetics, [[dietary supplement]]s, and therapeutic products.<ref name=h1276>{{cite journal|doi=10.1071/EA08139|journal=Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture |year=2008 |volume=48 |pages= 1276–1279 |title=Can emu oil ameliorate inflammatory disorders affecting the gastrointestinal system? |author1=Howarth, Gordon S. |author2=Lindsay, Ruth J. |author3=Butler, Ross N. |author4=Geier, Mark S. |issue=10}}</ref> The oil is obtained from the subcutaneous and retroperitoneal fat; the macerated adipose tissue is heated and the liquefied fat is filtered to get a clear oil.<ref name=h1276 /> This consists mainly of [[fatty acid]]s of which [[oleic acid]] (42%), [[linoleic acid|linoleic]] and [[palmitic acid]]s (21% each) are the most prominent components.<ref name=h1276 /> It also contains various [[anti-oxidant]]s, notably [[carotenoid]]s and [[flavones]].<ref name=h1276 />

There is some evidence that the oil has [[anti-inflammatory]] properties;<ref name=yog /> however, there have not yet been extensive tests,<ref name=h1276 /> and the USDA regards pure emu oil as an unapproved drug and highlighted it in a 2009 article entitled "How to Spot Health Fraud".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/ucm137284.htm |title=How to Spot Health Fraud |author=Kurtzweil, Paula |date=25 February 2010 |journal=Drugs |volume=33 |issue=6 |pages=22–6 |publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration |pmid=10628313 |access-date=15 July 2015}}</ref> Nevertheless, the oil has been linked to the easing of gastrointestinal inflammation, and tests on rats have shown that it has a significant effect in treating [[arthritis]] and joint pain, more so than olive or fish oils.<ref name=avian>{{cite journal|doi=10.1071/EA08134|journal=Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture |year=2008 |volume=48 |pages=1345–1350 |title=Comparison of the antioxidant properties of emu oil with other avian oils |author1=Bennett, Darin C. |author2=Code, William E. |author3=Godin, David V. |author4=Cheng, Kimberly M. |issue=10}}</ref> It has been scientifically shown to improve the rate of wound healing, but the mechanism responsible for this effect is not understood.<ref name=avian /> A 2008 study has claimed that emu oil has a better anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory potential than ostrich oil, and linked this to emu oil's higher proportion of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids.<ref name=yog>{{cite journal|last1=Yoganathan |first1=S. |last2=Nicolosi |first2=R. |last3=Wilson |first3=T. |first4= G. |last4=Handelman |first5=P. |last5=Scollin |first6=R. |last6=Tao |first7=P. |last7=Binford |first8=F. |last8=Orthoefer |title=Antagonism of croton oil inflammation by topical emu oil in CD-1 mice |journal=Lipids |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=603–607 |year=2003 |pmid=12934669 |doi= 10.1007/s11745-003-1104-y |s2cid=4054042 }}</ref><ref name=avian /><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Politis, M.J. |author2=Dmytrowich, A. |title=Promotion of second intention wound healing by emu oil lotion: comparative results with furasin, polysporin, and cortisone |journal=Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery |volume=102 |issue=7 |pages=2404–2407 |year=1998 |pmid=9858176 |doi= 10.1097/00006534-199812000-00020 |s2cid=793260 }}</ref> While there are no scientific studies showing that emu oil is effective in humans, it is marketed and promoted as a dietary supplement with a wide variety of claimed health benefits. Commercially marketed emu oil supplements are poorly standardised.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Whitehouse, M.W. |author2=Turner, A.G. |author3=Davis, C.K. |author4=Roberts, M.S. |title=Emu oil(s): A source of non-toxic transdermal anti-inflammatory agents in aboriginal medicine |journal=Inflammopharmacology |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |year=1998 |pmid=17638122 |doi=10.1007/s10787-998-0001-9 |s2cid=23295481 }}</ref>

[[File:Engraved Emu egg.jpg|thumb|Engraved Emu egg.]]

Emu [[leather]] has a distinctive patterned surface, due to a raised area around the feather [[hair follicle|follicles]] in the skin; the leather is used in such items as [[wallet]]s, handbags, shoes and clothes,<ref name=NYT02713/> often in combination with other leathers. The feathers and eggs are used in decorative arts and [[craft]]s. In particular, emptied emu eggs have been engraved with portraits, similar to [[cameo (carving)|cameos]], and scenes of Australian native animals.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/atsi-collection/cultural-objects/kalti-paarti-introduction/ |title=Kalti Paarti – Carved emu eggs |publisher=National Museum of Australia |access-date=15 July 2015}}</ref> Mounted Emu eggs and emu-egg containers in the form of hundreds of goblets, inkstands and vases were produced in the second half of the nineteenth century, all richly embellished with images of Australian flora, fauna and indigenous people by travelling silversmiths, founders of a 'new Australian grammar of ornament'.<ref>Jonathan Sweet, 'Belonging before Federation: Design and Identity in Colonial Australian Gold and Silver', in Brian Hubber (ed.), ''All that Glitters: Australian Colonial Gold and Silver from the Vizard Foundation'', exhibition catalogue, Geelong Regional Art Gallery, Geelong, 2001, p. 15.</ref><ref>John B Hawkins, 19th Century Australian Silver, Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, UK, 1990, vol. 1, p. 22–6; Eva Czernis-Ryl (ed.), Australian Gold & Silver, 1851–1900, exhibition catalogue, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1995.</ref> They continued longstanding traditions that can be traced back to the European mounted ostrich eggs of the thirteenth century and Christian symbolism and notions of virginity, fertility, faith and strength. For a society of proud settlers who sought to bring culture and civilisation to their new world, the traditional ostrich-egg goblet, freed from its roots in a society dominated by court culture,<ref>Dirk Syndram & Antje Scherner (ed.), ''Princely Splendor: The Dresden Court 1580–1620'', exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2006, pp. 87–9.</ref> was creatively made novel in the Australian colonies as forms and functions were invented to make the objects attractive to a new, broader audience.<ref>Joylon Warwick James, 'A European Heritage: Nineteenth-Century Silver in Australia', The Silver Society Journal, 2003, pp. 133–7</ref> Significant designers Adolphus Blau, Julius Hogarth, Ernest Leviny, Julius Schomburgk, Johann Heinrich Steiner, Christian Quist, [[J. M. Wendt|Joachim Matthias Wendt]], William Edwards and others<ref>Terence Lane, 'Australian Silver in the National Gallery of Victoria', Art Bulletin, vol. 18, 1980–81, pp. 379–85</ref><ref>Judith O’Callaghan (ed.), The J. and J. Altmann Collection of Australian Silver, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1981.</ref> had the technical training on which to build flourishing businesses in a country rich in raw materials and a clientele hungry for old-world paraphernalia.<ref>Eichberger, D. (1988). Patterns of Domestication.</ref>

In addition to their use in farming, emus are sometimes kept as pets, though they require adequate space and food in order to live healthily. Emus were formerly subject to regulation in the United Kingdom under the [[Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976|Dangerous Wild Animals Act]]; however, a review of the act in 2007 led to changes that allow emus (alongside a number of other animals that were also regulated under the act) to be kept without a license, as they were no longer considered to be dangerous.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-10-05 |title=New pets law allows emus to be kept without licence |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/property/house-and-home/pets/news/new-pets-law-allows-emus-to-be-kept-without-licence-5328541.html |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>