Geoff Helisma

Gulmarrad Public School student, Zac Todhunter, 9, has taken it upon himself to do his bit to protect the endangered coastal emu.

Zac has erected a sign on the speed sign pole at the corner of Brooms Head Road and Australia Avenue.

Clarence Valley Council’s website states there are fewer than “50 known individuals on the east coast of Australia”.

“One time I rode home from school, and I looked at the paddock across from my house and there were two emus under a tree, resting,” says Zac

“Then I came up with the idea of making a sign, ‘caution emus’.

“I painted it one day and put it out here, and it’s been working ever since.”

Zac’s mum, Cristy, rustled up “some old paint lying around in the shed”, Zac says.

Is the sign working?

“Everyone around the streets have been telling me that everyone has been cautiously going slow, looking around for the emus,” says Zac.

“There are two down the road, just around the corner a bit.”

What about that ‘Save our Wildlife’ shirt you’re wearing?

“Yeah, the shirt’s pretty good; it matches what I want to do around here.”

Zac says that emus are fascinating “because they are curious, and they follow me everywhere; sometimes they let me pat them”.

Cristy Todhunter says it was a pleasant surprise when Zac asked to make the sign.

“Yes, it was very impromptu,” she says.

“I’ve tried to raise [our children] to be aware of what’s around them – and we do go on bushwalks and take note of what is around us – and be respectful of the animals. 

“So, the fact that the emus have shown up – we last saw them about 12 years ago when we moved here – and the fact that Zac, all by himself, wanted to make sure people knew to slow down.

“I found materials in the shed, and he needed a bit of help with the outline of the emu.”

On the sign’s effectiveness, Cristy says it has been “working well and, surprisingly, the sign has survived quite well in the wet weather”.

Meanwhile, the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program aims to “increase the number of threatened species that are secure in the wild in New South Wales for 100 years, and [to] control the key threats facing our threatened plants and animals”.