Rubber-vine (Cryptostegia grandiflora) toxicity for ruminants

Abstract

On one property in the restricted area of northern Queensland where mbber-vine is eaten by cattle, the usual annual mortality was 5 of 800 cattle mustered off the affected area. This rose to 30 of 1,000 cattle when they were mustered from the same area on which the rubber-vine had been burned the previous year. Some cattle in the field "drop dead" during exercise, usually after a short gallop or trot. Death is often sudden, with little or no struggling. Necropsy usually shows marked congestion and cyanosis of blood vessels, particularly the cerebral and myocardial vessels. Rubber-vine is present in the ruminal contents.