I'm writing a paper about plants that are poisonous to animals. I can find all kinds of information on plants poisonous to domestic animals such as cats and dogs but I'd like to focus on exotic animals in zoos. What are some plants/fruits/berries/nuts/anything that can possibly grow natively that zookeepers or animal care specialists keep an eye out for to ensure their animals aren't harmed by them? It might be really interesting to find a few things that are poisonous to specific species but general poisonous plants/fruits/berries/nuts/etc.. work just as well. Thanks! EDIT: I shouldn't have put "ingested." I suppose if anything that can be poisonous just by physical contact/inhalation would work just as well. Thanks.
There is a section about this in Hediger's classic 'Man and Animals in the Zoo'. He emphasised that plants such as European yew have no place in zoos because they are so toxic to many animal species. Alan
Perhaps this will help: Main Page - ZooPlants.Net The topic is less specific and less researched than you might think
Oleander for sure (a very common ornamental bush here in the United States and perhaps elsewhere). It killed one of our giraffes at my local zoo when an intern accidentally put some clippings in with their browse.
Black walnut effects goat species very badly, to the point of killing most goats that come in contact with it.
I went to a lecture a while ago when the problem of bracken in herbivore enclosures was mentioned. It is toxic to the liver, and while wild deer will not touch it, at least to any extent, in a confined space antelope and deer may eat lethal amounts.
