The body of a missing Emu from Malmesbury has been recovered from a river.
Irwin disappeared from a field in the town on 30 September – with searches ongoing since.
Malmesbury Animal Sanctuary feared the much-loved bird had fallen into the River Avon due to his field being partially flooded at the bottom at the time.
The organisation said that Emus are “strong and natural swimmers”, and hoped that Irwin had exited the river and was resting up somewhere safe.
However, during searches for the water today (Sunday), his body was recovered near Truckle Bridge.
In a statement, a sanctuary spokesperson said: “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we have to announce that our beloved Emu, Irwin has been found dead.
“Today we were joined by Gareth, and Mark who helped search the river and found him the other side of Truckle Bridge where the water had finally subsided and slowed down sufficiently for us to access it.
“Plus a huge thank you to Sam, Rob, Russ, Rich who also helped out with today’s search.
“This concurs with our initial theory which was during play, while the emus were chasing each other around, Irwin must have slipped, and stumbled into the river.
“In normal circumstances this shouldn’t have been a problem as emus are very adept at swimming, however it occurred at night – a time during which their vision is not best suited.
“And due to the recent heavy rainfall the river had broken its banks and run into the field making the area sodden, and very slippery.
“We believe due to these conditions, and perhaps shock, he simply didn’t have sufficient opportunity to right himself and swim to safety.
“In calmer weather he would easily have swum for the bank, and made it back to dry land safe and sound. Whatever the case we sincerely hope Irwin didn’t suffer for long.
“The thought of his struggle will always be with us. His absence always felt. We simply don’t have words to explain how sad this makes us all feel.”
