Emu chicks hatch at Scottish Borders bird sanctuary

But why did Owen, who hails from Caithness, and fellow director Mark Haillay, from Gloucestershire, bring emus to the Scottish Borders?

“Australian wildlife is weird and wacky, and very interesting,” says Owen.

“People like myself from the 70s and 80s will remember the emu from children’s programmes so there is a bit of nostalgia there for us.

“But the whole purpose of the Bird Garden is to bring people in contact with rare and threatened birds in particular.

“Emus are quite indicative of Australia’s challenges with conflicts in agriculture, with barbed wire fencing going up and the horrendous bush fires, which displaces them, so there are a lot of challenges for Australian wildlife.

“While they’re quite quirky we can also highlight their plight by having them here in a safe place in Scotland.”