<P> The early European settlers killed emus to provide food and used their fat for fuelling lamps . They also tried to prevent them from interfering with farming or invading settlements in search of water during drought . An extreme example of this was the Emu War in Western Australia in 1932 . Emus flocked to the Chandler and Walgoolan area during a dry spell, damaging rabbit fencing and devastating crops . An attempt to drive them off was mounted, with the army called in to dispatch them with machine guns; the emus largely avoided the hunters and won the battle . Emus are large, powerful birds, and their legs are among the strongest of any animal and powerful enough to tear down metal fencing . The birds are very defensive of their young, and there have been two documented cases of humans being attacked by emus . </P> <P> In the areas in which it was 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 utensils such as the coolamon, and was mixed with ochre to make the traditional paint for ceremonial body adornment . </P> <P> An example of how the emu was cooked comes from the Arrernte of Central Australia who called it Kere ankerre: </P> <P> "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 river red gum wood ." </P>

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