Indiana DNR’s Sick or Dead Wildlife Reporting System collects information about wildlife that appear sick or appear to have died without an apparent cause. Please do not use this form to report animals that have died of an apparent cause, such as predation, roadkill, or window collisions. Occasionally, biologists may use the information to collect samples. Reports may not be immediately reviewed by a biologist. Reports are added to a database that tracks trends over time and helps detect disease outbreaks.
- What to report
Our Wildlife Health Team is especially interested in the following; however, even reports of incidents involving common species and single animals are useful to help us understand baseline levels of sickness and death in wildlife populations.
- Recurring deaths of animals in the same location over a period of time.
- Individual deer with signs that may indicate chronic wasting disease (CWD), such as emaciation, exhibiting abnormal behavior such as staggering or standing with poor posture, salivating excessively, or carrying their head and ears lower than normal.
- Individual deer with signs that may indicate Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (death in or near water, loss of appetite and wariness, swelling around the head and neck, increased respiration rate, excessive salivation, rosy or bluish color of mouth and tongue).
- Incidents involving threatened or endangered species, regardless of the cause of death or the number of animals involved.
However, even reports of incidents involving common species and single animals are useful for understanding baseline levels of sickness and death in wildlife populations.
- Don't report domesticated fowl
The Sick or Dead Wildlife Report is not intended for collecting information on domesticated fowl, defined as chickens, turkeys, ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries; waterfowl (i.e., domesticated fowl that normally swim, such as ducks, geese, and swans); or game birds (domesticated fowl such as pheasants, pea fowl, partridge, quail, grouse, and guineas). For information on reporting sick domesticated fowl, visit this page.
- Don’t request removal of dead animals
The Sick or Dead Wildlife Report is not intended to collect information on roadkill or provide the removal of dead animals.
- Contact Indiana Department of Transportation regarding the collection of roadkill on state and federal highways. Local public works or sanitation departments collect wildlife killed on their own streets.
- For removal of dead wildlife from private property, contact a wildlife control operator or remove the dead wildlife yourself. Wear gloves, double-bag small animals in plastic bags or garbage bags, and dispose of them in the trash. In Indiana, other legal disposal options include burial, incineration, rendering, and composting.
- Don’t report orphaned and injured animals
The Sick or Dead Wildlife Report is not intended to provide services for orphaned and injured animals. If you have seen an animal that is still alive and has a traumatic physical injury, contact a permitted wildlife rehabilitator. For more information about young wildlife and what to do if you find an orphaned wild animal, visit this web page.
- Don’t report deaths from rehabilitators or animal control services
The Sick or Dead Wildlife Report is not intended to collect information on wildlife that die while in the care of a wildlife rehabilitator or as the result of nuisance wildlife animal control services. Wildlife rehabilitators and wildlife control operators record those deaths of wildlife through separate reporting requirements.
