PERU, Ind. (AP) – Police say a large flightless bird forced the closing of a northern Indiana highway for about 10 minutes while officers and motorists tried to corral it.

The 5-foot-tall bird called a rhea had escaped from a farm and ran onto U.S. 24 near the Miami County city of Peru on Monday. Rheas are native to South America and similar to ostriches and emus.

State Police 1st Sgt. Bob Burgess tells the Kokomo Tribune an animal control officer shot the bird with a tranquilizer dart but the bird fled into traffic. Meanwhile, officers contacted the previous owner of the bird, who arrived on the scene and was able to tackle it. 

Burgess says the previous owner loaded the bird into a pickup truck and returned it to its new owner.