Ostrich escapes animal cafe, sprints down Thai highway

A pet ostrich went for a speedy jaunt down a busy Thai highway on Tuesday, before being returned safe and sound to its enclosure at an animal-themed cafe.The six-month-old male ostrich raced along a three-lane highway in Thailand’s coastal Chonburi province as cars and trucks sped by the flightless bird, according to a video posted by a man who was driving directly behind it.“Who lost an ostrich on the road? Come get him. He runs so fast,” the motorist, Chairat Sompong, is heard saying in the video.Chairat, 33, later said that he was driving home when he came upon a traffic jam.“At first, I thought it was an accident but when I drove close, I saw an ostrich running in the middle lane,” he said.The ostrich “looked afraid and panicked”, Chairat said, adding that he tried to make it move to the left lane, where it eventually stopped running.An ostrich resting in Thailand’s Rayong province. Photo: AFP courtesy of Itsara Boriboon