Fiedler H H, Perron R M
Staatl. Veterinäruntersuchungsamt Oldenburg mit Aussenstelle Stade.
Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 1994 Feb;107(2):50-2.
Six, four month old, captive bred emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) were found dead in their pen without any previous indications of illness. Postmortem examination revealed the cause of death to be taxine poisoning after ingestion of leaves and green berries from a Yew bush (Taxus baccata) growing outside the perimeter fencing but encroaching through the wire. After longstanding access to the Yew bush, an unidentified stimulus prompted these young birds to sample this toxic plant. Pathological findings included changes in the lungs, heart, liver, spleen and most parts of the digestive system as would be expected from the quoted sources concerning taxine poisoning in other species. Considering the varied artificial environments in which taxa are kept and the relative infrequency of autopsies carried out on birds, the incidence of taxine poisoning in avian species is considered to be probably much higher than that evidenced by reference to the published literature.
六只四个月大的人工饲养鸸鹋（鸸鹋属新荷兰种）被发现死在围栏里，此前没有任何患病迹象。尸检显示，死因是摄入了生长在围栏外但穿过铁丝网侵入围栏内的紫杉（欧洲红豆杉）的叶子和绿色浆果导致的紫杉碱中毒。在长期接触紫杉灌木丛后，一个不明刺激因素促使这些幼鸟采食了这种有毒植物。病理结果包括肺部、心脏、肝脏、脾脏以及消化系统大部分部位的变化，正如其他物种紫杉碱中毒的引用文献中所预期的那样。考虑到圈养分类单元的人工环境多种多样，以及对鸟类进行尸检的相对频率较低，鸟类物种中紫杉碱中毒的发生率可能比已发表文献所显示的要高得多。
