In Pierce Township, Clermont County, what started as a normal return from Thanksgiving break turned into something much stranger and more disturbing.
As WLWT reporter Rachel Whelan explains in her on-scene report, staff behind St. Bernadette Elementary School found a shocking sight on the ballfields: 72 dead vultures scattered across the grass behind the school.
Whelan says the birds were discovered Monday behind the school, lying across the baseball fields just beyond the main campus.
Parents who live nearby told her they had never seen anything like it.
Neighbor and parent Dennis Bauer, who lives across from the field and has a kindergartener at St. Bernadette, told Whelan his reaction in one word: “Incredible… wow. Unbelievable.”
He said photos from the fire department showing the birds lined across the field left him stunned.
The scene was especially unsettling because these vultures are not strangers to the neighborhood.
Bauer told Whelan that the birds had long perched on an abandoned nursing home they passed regularly, describing how “all the vultures would be perched up on the structure… for many years.”
Seeing them suddenly all dead, in one place, turned a familiar local sight into something that felt ominous.
Parents Want Answers, Officials Seek Help
Rachel Whelan reports that the Pierce Township Fire Department first learned about the mass die-off on Monday and immediately began asking the state for help removing the carcasses.
Because no one knew how the vultures died, Whelan says crews were concerned about possible health risks and stayed a safe distance away, even keeping her camera crew a couple of blocks back from the fields.
Bauer told Whelan that ever since parents heard about the birds, rumors have been swirling.
He said people are asking the same questions over and over: “Were they poisoned?… You know, what happened? You know, the bird flu or… no one really knows at this point.”
Whelan reports that, as of her live shot, the school had not yet sent official communication to parents, even though students were already talking about the dead birds.
Bauer shared a lighter but telling moment with Whelan, saying his five-year-old tries to pronounce “vultures” but calls them “virtues” and keeps asking, “Dad, have you found any more information about the virtues?”
Even in that small mispronunciation, you can hear how this strange event is already sinking into the minds of very young children, who may not fully understand what’s going on, but know something is wrong.
Whelan adds that St. Bernadette officials told her they have not closed classes, since the birds are on the ballfields away from where students are during the school day, but the school is working on an official statement.
For parents who can see the baseball fields from their front yards, the lack of firm answers is almost as unsettling as the birds themselves.
State Response Shifts After Media Pressure
While WLWT was documenting the scene on TV, WCPO 9 investigative reporter Paula Christian and the WCPO 9 I-Team were pressing state officials on why nothing was being done.
Christian reports that staff and teachers at St. Bernadette returned from Thanksgiving break on Dec. 1 and discovered 72 dead black vultures across the campus, where more than 200 children attend school.
According to Christian, the school reached out to Pierce Township Fire Chief Craig Wright for help, and Wright in turn contacted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
That’s where the frustration really began.
Christian reports that township officials say ODNR initially refused to clean up or even test the birds.
Pierce Township Trustee Allen Freeman told Christian that ODNR was “very adamant that they were not coming” and recommended local crews simply “take them, put them in a bag, double-bag them and throw them in the garbage.”
Freeman said it became “very clear that there was no help coming.”
According to Christian, ODNR’s position changed only after the WCPO 9 I-Team reached out with questions.
“Thanks to Channel 9, you guys reached out to ODNR, and amazingly, they started to change their tune,” Freeman told Christian.
By Friday morning, Ohio wildlife officers were on campus removing carcasses and loading them up, a very different response than what local officials say they were told at first.
This part of Christian’s reporting shows how much pressure the media can apply in situations like this.
Sometimes it takes public attention and tough questions to make agencies move from “it’s not our problem” to taking action.
Bird Flu, Poison, Or Something Else?
The biggest question, as both Rachel Whelan and Paula Christian make clear, is why these birds died in the first place.
Whelan reports that the Pierce Township fire chief believes bird flu may be to blame, and that’s one of the main theories firefighters have discussed with local residents.
Christian adds more detail, citing an ODNR statement that ties the situation to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
According to Christian’s article, ODNR said the Ohio Department of Agriculture has already tested other wild birds in Clermont County and found them “presumed positive” for HPAI.
Once a presumed positive case is identified in a county, ODNR says, any additional dead birds found in groups of six or more are presumed to be HPAI and treated as such.
Because of that policy, ODNR considers the vultures at St. Bernadette “presumed positive” for bird flu, although Christian reports that officers are now collecting extra samples “due to this unique circumstance.”
Still, Trustee Allen Freeman told Christian he wants more than a presumption.
Freeman said he wants to know for certain whether the vultures died from bird flu or were poisoned.
Christian reports that both Freeman and Fire Chief Craig Wright say ODNR originally declined to test the birds, a claim that Clermont County Public Health spokesperson Krista Rose confirmed in a written statement.
Rose said the issue was first reported to ODNR, which declined to test the vultures, but given the potential public health risk, county officials worked with state partners to arrange testing.
Christian reports that on Friday, Dec. 5, two birds were being delivered to a state animal laboratory for testing, with results expected early the next week.
The tug-of-war over testing shows how complicated wildlife events can become when several agencies each have a piece of responsibility.
At the same time, it’s easy to see why neighbors in Pierce Township feel caught in the middle, standing next to a school filled with kids while experts argue over who should test the birds and when.
Low Human Risk, But Big Questions For Wildlife And Farms
While the sight of 72 dead vultures outside an elementary school sounds like the beginning of a disaster movie, both reporters emphasize that health officials are telling people not to panic.
Christian reports that Fire Chief Craig Wright has been “assured by health officials that it’s a really low risk of transmission to humans.”
Wright told Christian, “We don’t know why the birds have died. There’s an assumption that it could be bird flu, but they’ve not been tested to confirm that,” reinforcing that the cause remains unknown.
Krista Rose, the public health spokesperson, said in Christian’s piece that even if the testing comes back positive for bird flu, the current risk to the public is very low.
She explained that transmission usually happens through contact with respiratory droplets and bodily fluids from live birds, not from just being near dead ones.
Rose also noted that the current strain of H5N1 has been circulating in wild and domestic birds across the country, including Ohio, since 2022.
Still, Christian reports that Trustee Allen Freeman is worried about more than just human health.
He told her he’s concerned about other birds in the area, like geese, that could spread the illness across Clermont County if this is bird flu.
Freeman pointed out that there are cattle operations nearby and noted that bird flu has been known to jump to cattle, which could raise food supply concerns if the situation escalates.
That is where this story becomes quietly serious.
What looks like a strange and gross mess on a school ballfield could also be an early warning sign about how diseases move through wildlife, and sometimes into the animals people depend on for food.
A Disturbing Mystery With No Clear Ending Yet
Between Rachel Whelan’s live reporting for WLWT and Paula Christian’s deeper investigation for WCPO 9, a sharp picture comes into focus:
A Catholic elementary school with more than 200 students.
A ballfield littered with 72 dead black vultures.
Local parents like Dennis Bauer left without solid answers.
Fire Chief Craig Wright trying to manage a cleanup he admits is “a big undertaking” for a department that doesn’t specialize in wildlife.
And township leaders like Allen Freeman pushing state agencies to step in, test the birds, and help figure out what really happened.
Right now, as both reporters make clear, this is still a mystery.
Bird flu is a strong suspect, but poison or some other environmental factor has not been ruled out.
In a way, the dead vultures have become a test of how quickly government agencies respond when something strange lands, literally, in a school’s backyard.
For the kids at St. Bernadette and their families, the hope is simple: that testing will finally give a clear answer, that the cleanup will be complete, and that their ballfields will go back to being just ballfields.
Until then, Pierce Township remains a place where people look twice at the sky, wondering if the birds overhead are just passing through – or carrying a story that still hasn’t been fully told.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
