Escaped ostrich? No, that’s just a Thai zoo employee

By Kocha Olarn and Jessie Yeung, CNN

With its long neck, round torso, tail feathers and lumbering gait, the huge creature being chased around a Thai zoo by net-wielding veterinarians appears to be an ostrich.

But when cornered by its pursuers, the strange beast’s true nature is revealed — and the clue is in its black sneakers.

This is a grown man, in full ostrich costume, and his job is to help train staff at Chiang Mai Zoo on how to respond if an animal escapes.

Videos shared by the zoo with CNN show the staff member getting ready for his big role; his face is smeared with white paint, his arms are tucked into a giant ball of cloth and a fake ostrich head is buckled to the top of his long “neck.”

The bizarre ensuing scene, in which he was chased around the zoo’s Africa Zone on Tuesday, wouldn’t have looked out of place on a TV show or in an avant…