Identification of Poisonous Plants and Their Toxic Effects on Livestock in and Around Bako District, West Showa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Poisonous plants are one of the causes of livestock health problems all over the world and bring significant economic loss. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was conducted in and around Bako district West Showa Zone of Oromia regional state, Western Ethiopia from November to May 2016 with the objective of identifying poisonous plants and their toxic effect in the study area. In order to put the objective into practice, structured questionnaires were developed and 153 individuals (139 livestock owners and 14 animal health practitioners) were interviewed on voluntary basis. The study revealed that 122(87.8%) of livestock owners and 14(100%) of animal health practitioner complained the presence of plant poisoning on livestocks in the study area. Similarly, 37 plants were identified as having poisoning effect on livestock, among which Trifolium hybridium, Sorghum bicola, Amaranthus spp, Datura stramonium and Plantago lanceolata had the highest botanical frequency. According to the result of survey, agricultural expansion, drought, soil erosion and overgrazing predispose the livestocks to plant poisoning. In the same way, almost all of the livestocks were managed by extensive type of production system which allows them to browse poisonous perennial herbs on the fields. On the other hand, the livestocks were poisoned by leaves and other parts of the identified poisonous plants through ingestion or contact. In conclusion, from the current study, high numbers of poisonous plants were obtained in the study area. Hence, the livestock health in the area is at high risk of exposure to these toxic plants and therefore the government should intervene to create awareness among the community about the effects of these plants and for further phytochemical and toxicological studies and possibly pharmacological activity.

Keywords: Botanical frequency, Ethiopia, livestock, Poisonous plants, structured questionnaire