Sydney - An amorous emu called Edward that made repeated sexual advances towards his frightened female owner looks set to get a proper mate after a chivalrous fellow Australian offered to play matchmaker, news reports said Friday.

Patrena Arriston put out a lonely-hearts call from her home in the far north town of Katherine. It was answered by Lew Farkas, who offered one of his four pet emus as company for lonesome Edward. All that lies between Edward and a livelier time is for Farkas to find out which, if any, of his emus is female.

'Look them in the eye and they look the same,' Farkas told the Northern Territory News. 'You look at their beaks and they look the same. There's no things hanging off them as per normal animals to know the difference.' The local vet - which in the thinly populated Northern Territory is hundreds of kilometres away - has been called on to help sex the foursome.

Once that's done, all that's left is for someone to offer to drive the prospective partner the 800 kilometres from Farkas's place to Arriston's.