An escaped emu was spotted running along roads and pavements in Hong Kong.

Footage shows the flightless bird darting across a motorway and blocking traffic for a truck near Tin Shui Wai on May 25.

It was also seen along the pavement of a building carpark with baffled residents watching.

Police and wildlife officers captured the bird after three hours and had been taken to a shelter while waiting for its owners to claim it.

A spokesman from the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department said: ‘If it is eventually unclaimed, the department will try to arrange for its transfer to an animal welfare organisation for adoption if the animal is in good health and fit for adoption as assessed by the department's veterinary officers.'

Emus are the second-largest living bird species by height after the ostrich. They can reach up to 6.2 feet tall. They have shaggy grey-brown feather plumage, long legs and necks, and a small head relative to their body size.