WARRENTON, Ore. — Six elk found scattered across a coastal cemetery died from eating English yew landscaping shrub, state wildlife officials said.
English yew is a popular conifer imported from Europe and used for ornamental decoration.
“The red-fleshy part is typically not toxic, but everything else is,” said Rich Halse, a senior botany instructor at Oregon State University.
Phil Elkins of the Astoria Parks and Recreation Department discovered the elk Dec. 13 in the Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton.
“There were no visible bullet holes, arrow holes,” he told The Daily Astorian in a story Thursday. “They just died. Fish and Game said they’ve never seen anything like it.”
Workers with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife took the animals to the Oregon State University Veterinary Diagnostic Lab near Corvallis for a necropsy, and it was determined they died from poisoning by English yew.
“Since it’s not native, it’s not something they’d typically encounter,” Halse said. “I expect they didn’t know what it was and ate it.”
Upon poisoning by the shrub, there might be no symptoms before death, or trembling, staggering, coldness, weak pulse and collapse might occur.
Halse said the plant hasn’t become naturalized and is usually only a product of human cultivation. He said livestock will eat it if they can’t find other foliage, but it’s the first time he’s heard of elk dying from eating the plant.
Elkins said the elk were part of a larger herd of 40 to 50 that passes through the cemetery.
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