A member of the public spotted the emu near Cotter Avenue on Tuesday afternoon with an arrow protruding from what appeared to be its upper thigh.

ACT Parks and Conservation Murrumbidgee River Corridor acting manager James Overall said the emu appeared to be in distress.

"It was pretty awkwardly walking and struggling to run according to the member of public," Mr Overall said.

"Obviously Parks and Conservation Service, the ACT government and the public more broadly are pretty outraged by this incident given it's such a gentle and iconic and relatively uncommon animal in the ACT."

Rangers set out on Tuesday afternoon and again on Wednesday to find the injured bird.

About 30 emus live in the Cotter area, with a small number of Tidbinbilla birds moved to the region several years ago.

The animal was sighted on its own, which is uncommon for emus.

"Emus often move around in little family groups. Just this morning we saw 12 emus in that general area but obviously none were the one in question," Mr Overall said.

If and when rangers find the bird, it will be assessed by ACT government vets before a decision is made on whether it needs to be put down.

Mr Overall said over the years other ACT wildlife, particularly kangaroos, have been targeted by people with bows and arrows.

"It does happen and obviously if you don't kill the animal with the arrow then the animal has to live for quite a short or long painful period with the arrow lodged in it. It might be a very cruel and slow death unfortunately," Mr Overall said.

"Animals are generally very resilient so if something's just an injury and it's not life threatening and it hasn't passed on from loss of blood, whether it would be predated by something or it'll just keep struggling on until it can't have the energy to sustain itself."

Those who bring weapons into ACT national parks and reserves can be fined $7500.

Killing a native animal can attract a penalty of $15,000 or one year in jail. Charges of injuring or endangering a native animal or aggravated animal cruelty can attract fines of $30,000 or up to two years in jail.

The matter has now been referred to ACT Policing.

ACT Parks and Conservation has asked Canberrans in the area to keep an eye out for the animal.

Mr Overall said it was "frustrating" to know the animal was in distress.

"We joined the Parks and Conservation Service as rangers to assist these landscapes and all things that live within them and emus are such an iconic and beautiful animal that to see one that's been mistreated, probably just for fun, is pretty heartbreaking," Mr Overall said.

If you see the injured emu, call ACT Parks and Conservation on 6207 2425.

Anyone with information about the shooting can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.