Multiple agencies respond as nearly 100 geese found dead in Brown County

BROWN COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) — Nearly 100 geese have been found dead in a gated community in Brown County, and bird flu could be the reason why.

“You can see here behind us, there’s one dead goose, maybe two actually,” said Todd Wilkin, Lake Waynoka General Manager.

Nearly 100 geese have been found dead in a gated community in Brown County, and bird flu could be the reason why. (WKRC, Provided)

It’s what Lake Waynoka has been dealing with since Wednesday.

“We got a phone call from a member who said that they had found a dead goose in their front yard. So, immediately we contact our maintenance team,” said Wilkin.

Wilkin said that after that first dead goose was found, 16 more were located, and that number continued to grow.

“And so, we have cleaned up about 96 geese to date so far right now,” said Wilkin.

He says they’ve been working with the Brown County Health Department, the EPA, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

“The ODNR representative said that she’s pretty confident that it is bird flu,” said Wilkin.

ODNR sent a statement to Local 12 on Thursday:

“The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife responded to a report of an estimated 100 dead geese at Lake Waynoka in Brown County. The division is working with lake maintenance staff to properly dispose of the dead wild birds and to collect samples to send to the Ohio Department of Agriculture for initial highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) testing.”

In December 2025, 72 dead vultures were found littering the baseball fields at St. Bernadette Elementary School. It was confirmed they died of bird flu.

Wilkin fears more dead birds could be found in their area.

“We do unfortunately have a pair of bald eagles here who have been—we saw them unfortunately eating on the geese, so chances are they’re probably going to come down with it as well,” said Wilkin. “But, we expect that we’re probably going to be in the mid-100s as far as the birds go.”

He says he’s been fielding calls from residents worried about how this could impact their pets.

“It’s not like it’s in the air that as they breathe it in, they’re going to get it. So, as long as they’re not coming in contact with that carcass and eating the carcass, everything should be fine,” said Wilkin.

Wilkin says the good news is none of the dead birds were found in their water source. They expect to get test results from the dead geese in about a week.