A bolting ostrich made its way through heavy traffic on a city highway in Zhengzhou, Henan province, during morning rush hour on Monday, creating quite a buzz online.
People were both amused and baffled by the sight of the ostrich running down the highway, with some questioning whether ostriches can be legally kept as pets in China.
The ostrich eventually tripped over traffic police officers on motorcycles who were trying to intercept and escort it off the road. After running for several kilometers, the ostrich was safely captured with the help of local animal protection workers.
The breeder of the ostrich, surnamed Wang, said the male bird escaped from its enclosure because it missed its female mate, which had escaped on Oct 26 and was injured.
Wang apologized for causing inconvenience to the public, adding that the female ostrich is now recovering in the Pandora Forest Animal Kingdom, a zoo in Zhengzhou.
Wang said he bought the two ostriches at a morning fair one year ago at the request of his child, who found them adorable when they were young. Before escaping, the pair were raised in Wang's yard outside the east third ring road in Zhengzhou.
The head of the Zhengzhou Wildlife Protection Center, Dong Chaowei, told reporters that the regulations on whether ostriches can be kept as pets in China are unclear. Some experts believe that ostriches are special poultry and require a special breeding certificate to be raised, while others believe that ostrich breeding is already considered regular poultry in some places. However, it is clear that ostriches are not animals under state protection.