[23:46, 24/04/2022] Pierre Nel: Hi. Anybody know if eucalyptus is eaten/not eaten/ toxic🤷♂️ to black rhino if there happens to be a small patch in their camp? [07:53, 25/04/2022] Henry Labuschagne: It is poisonous to dogs and horses. It is also a magnet for lightning. I would advice to fence off the area where the trees are. [07:56, 25/04/2022] Alex Lewis: I have two farms where the giraffe eat and white rhino eat fallen branches. The giraffe breath makes your eyes water, but they have done well for many years. I don't think the white rhinos get much in, as only occasional branches that giraffe break, but I saw them stand next to giraffe waiting for leaves to fall and then chasing giraffe away to eat. The white rhino like it in the karoo areas. [09:08, 25/04/2022] Pierre Nel: 🙏 [09:08, 25/04/2022] Johan Jacobs : Pierre, yes but only if large quantities are consumed. I did have a case where sheep died in the drought where the new sprouts of eucalyptus trees were the only leaves available for consumption. Symptoms = Cyanide toxicity. [09:09, 25/04/2022] Pierre Nel: 👍👍 [10:29, 25/04/2022] Pete Morkel: Pierre, I suspect a small patch of eucalyptus would not be a threat to black rhino (in fact they would probably grow fat on it!) but Henry's advice is sound - put a fence around it and a solid stock fence should be adequate. [10:55, 25/04/2022] Louis Greeff: I had a group of gemsbok in Bethal area. Every year before they calf in August they start consuming the leaves of the bluegums. Then when they calve, the calves starve to death. Almost all the calfs died for two consecutive years. Totally normal calves. In year two, I darted some of the cows to see why the calves don't get milk. They had ample milk, but it tasted like something out of hell. We then fenced off the bluegums and for the past two years the group raised all their calves. If Uncle Henry gave the advice earlier we would have 50 more gemsbok today. So Henry, you are 100 percent right - fence it off. Bluegums are not good food for animals. [10:55, 25/04/2022] Louis Greeff: The camp was 70ha and the bluegums was about 1ha of trees.
