Escaped rhea stops traffic as he runs along a village road

Escaped rhea stops traffic as he runs along a village road after escaping from its owner six weeks ago

  • Chris the rhea escaped from a sanctuary near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
  • The flightless bird has been sighted several times and caused traffic chaos 
  • Today, in the latest sightings, the bird was spotted running along village road
  • Attempts to recapture him have been likened to scenes in comedy film Hot Fuzz

This is the moment an escaped 5ft bird that is still on the loose was spotted running along a village road and bringing traffic to a halt.  

During the flightless bird’s latest sighting, the large animal named Chris, who is distantly related to ostriches and emus, was spotted running along a village road in front of stunned car drivers and stopping traffic.

The bird initially escaped from a private sanctuary in Sonning Common, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, six weeks ago and has since been sighted several times, including on one surprised resident’s driveway. 

Sonning Common resident Colleen McDonnell caught the sighting earlier today before posting the footage on Facebook. 

Ms McDonnell said: ‘I’m a Sonning Common resident (we live in the village). We had just left church and were about to get in the car when we spotted what I then thought was an ostrich in the middle of the road, standing still.

‘I took out my phone and managed to capture it heading up the hill straight down the middle of the road.

‘I then decided to post it on The SoCo Network, the local village social media page. 

‘I thought that would be a more efficient way to find out who it belonged to than phoning the police – and I knew others would be doing that as there were a lot of people in cars witnessing this bizarre event.

Chris the rhea escaped from a sanctuary near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

‘Sure enough people started commenting and turns out it belongs to a farmer just on the outskirts of the village and the Rhea has been on the run for four weeks. 

‘The bird has apparently still not been captured, it escaped a temporary capture near where we saw it.’   

Attempts to recapture Chris, who can run at 40mph, have been likened to scenes in the comedy film Hot Fuzz, where police try to catch a renegade swan. 

One Thames Valley officer tweeted a picture of the bird – named after singer Chris Rea – yesterday with the caption: ‘This fella on the loose causing a few road issues in Sonning Common. When we approached him he gave it the legs!’

Owner Tony Herring said: ‘He has run off a few times over the years but we’ve always got him back. He’s really given us the runaround this time.

‘He’s wandered right down the high street. He won’t attack anyone but he might panic if he’s cornered and can deliver a real kung-fu kick.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk