INDIAN emu farmers are being left with egg on their face, following the collapse of the local industry.
More than a decade after Australia's emu-farming bubble burst, tens of thousands of emus have been abandoned in India.
Many have been left to starve.
Since the get-rich-quick scheme started to unravel last year, masterminds of emu farming scams have been arrested, one emu farmer has been killed and prices for emu meat products have tumbled.
S. Chinny Krishna, the chairman of Blue Cross, one of the subcontinent's leading animal-welfare organisations, said about 75,000 emus had been abandoned in the southern province of Tamil Nadu.
About 10,000 had starved.
Mr Krishna told The Australian there were about 200 emu farms in Tamil Nadu, 1000 throughout India and up to 550,000 emus in the country.
Indian newspapers have run photographs of emus being captured by villagers to be killed for food.
The Tamil Nadu government is now attempting to feed about 12,000 emus and is reported to be working on a plan to auction the birds.
