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Melbourne Zoo Emus Step Up to the Scales

It’s taken over a year of patient training from their keepers, but the emus at Melbourne Zoo are now taking real steps in their own healthcare, by being able to weigh themselves.

“We’ve been teaching the emus to step on the scales gradually for over a year now,” keeper Erin Myers said. “It’s important for us to know how much our emus weigh so that we can tell how healthy they are. And if one of them has an illness, knowing their weight helps us know how we should be medicating them.”

The keepers used grapes to reinforce the behavior, the zoo said, with the results seen in this video as emus Edwina and Blondie step up to the scales.

The giant flightless birds usually weigh between 47 and 55 kilos, the zoo said. Credit: Melbourne Zoo via Storyful