New friends for twice bereaved emu Malcolm

Malcolm the emu has a rather unfortunate history when it comes to his companions.

His previous partner, Edwina, was killed when the pair were attacked by a swarm of bees that flew over their enclosure, back in 2017.

It was an assault that also left poor Malcolm with lingering injuries and scar tissue in his throat, having swallowed one of the bees.

The resident of Brockswood Animal Sanctuary, in Sedgley, was then the sole emu at the rescue for many years, until in 2024 the sanctuary found him a friend called Sandy to share his paddock with.

But staff were heartbroken earlier this year when Sandy died from egg peritonitis, a condition Brockswood said can occur in egg-laying birds and develop without any obvious warning signs.

Since then, Brockswood has valiantly been trying to find companions for Malcolm to relieve his latest bout of loneliness.

"We think because he'd found Sandy and had another love story, when we lost her, he was a bit lost for the first couple of weeks," Lydia Parker, senior keeper, told the BBC.

"We're always trying to find him new enrichment and spend as much time with him as we can, but we can never fill the space an emu can.

"We could tell he was missing her quite a lot, so we were on the hunt for new friends."

In a social media post about the loss, Brockswood said: "Sandy will never be replaced, but for Malcolm's welfare, it was essential to find him friends of his own kind."

Thankfully, two new friends have now arrived, and will soon join Malcolm so once again he has company of his own kind.

Willow and Fern are one-year-olds, from Cardiff, that were in need of a new home.

Making the journey of over 100 miles to Sedgley, they are now in an adjacent paddock to Malcolm's as they settle in.

Over the next few weeks, they will be introduced to the same paddock.

So far, Parker says the three emus have shown interest in each other, lying near the gates of their enclosures and popping their heads through to meet each other.

For the team at Brockswood, this marks an exciting future for Malcolm.

"He's quite an active boy as he is, and we hope they'll bring out a younger fun side of him – these are the youngest emus he's ever met," Parker said.

"They're a lot younger than Malcolm, they're one and he's over 20 – so we think they'll give him a new lease of life and keep him on his toes. We're really excited."

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