A video of the chase and arrest has been viewed more than 250,000 times on the Facebook page of St Johns County Sheriff’s Office in north-east Florida.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never handcuffed an emu before, but they’ll fit,” the officer is heard saying as he slaps handcuffs around the emu’s legs.

St Johns County Sheriff’s Office said “the large bird ignored [the law enforcement officer’s] commands, kicked several times using its large talons, and fled on foot recklessly”.

However, the officer was ultimately able to “corner the emu, secured it with a makeshift lasso, and handcuffed its legs to render the talons useless”.

The emu was reunited with its owners and returned home safely.

“All criminal charges against the emu were dropped,” a spokesperson added.