Emu looks inside Arizona State Trooper patrol car after being spotted on I-10 near Phoenix

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Emu spotted wandering along I-10 near Phoenix

Official used lasso to capture the bird

CNN  — 

It’s not the usual type of suspect Arizona State Troopers take into custody – this capture involved a long-legged big bird, wandering the highway.

Police were alerted after an emu was spotted on the Interstate 10 on Friday.

“Wild day on I-10 west of Phoenix. Emu on the loose!!” Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Quentin Mehr tweeted.

Authorities were notified after emu spotted wandering along I-10 near Phoenix

Authorities said the animal crossed the median and onto the dirt shoulder of the roadway, where it was safely contained.

A state agricultural officer used a lasso to capture the bird and placed it into a transport trailer.

“And the emu, and motorists are safe,” Mehr tweeted.

But the bird “unfortunately died on the way” to a care facility, Laura Oxley with the Arizona Dept. of Agriculture told CNN.

How the emu got on the highway is a mystery.

“We do not know where the emu came from. I am unaware of any emu farm in that area and, I believe, the Phoenix Zoo is the nearest zoo,” Mehr told CNN.

CNN’s Alex Medeiros contributed to this story