Kangaroo Island emu

The dwarf emu of Kangaroo Island was recorded by the artist Charles-Alexandre LeSueur of the Baudin expedition in 1802. The expedition had been sent out by the French government to explore the unknown section of the southern Australian coast in 1800. The expedition took several live specimens of the bird, as well as other animals, back to France with them, where they lived in the grounds of the palace of Malmaison, residence of Josephine and Napoleon Bonaparte. The birds can also be seen in the title page vignette of the expedition account Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes... and on the map of Terre Napoleon. The bird was extinct by the time of official white settlement in 1836.

Like the English expedition under the command of Matthew Flinders, the 1800 French expedition under Post-Captain Nicolas Baudin was commissioned to explore and chart the coastline of the 'unknown southern land', determine whether New Holland was one landmass, and make scientific observations. They were also looking for new land and trade opportunities.

Nicolas-Martin Petit and Charles-Alexandre Lesueur signed on as crew members of the Le Geographe, keen to travel to the undiscovered lands of New Holland. Without these two talented young men the French expedition's value would have been greatly lessened, as all three of the official artists resigned from the expedition before it reached the southern continent. Charles-Alexander Lesueur became the natural history artist for the expedition. He worked closely with his friend, zoologist Francoise Peron, acquiring many scientific skills including taxidermy, and became particularly adept at drawing fauna.

Please cite the State Library of South Australia when using this image