Alberta Fish and Wildlife is investigating the discovery of dozens of dead geese dumped on the side of the road in a rural area north of Taber, Alta.

Wildlife officers were alerted Tuesday to the carcass dump on the side of Township Road 112 and Range Road 161 — about 260 kilometres southeast of Calgary — where they found 85 Canada geese and five snow geese partially buried in the snow.

"Some meat was taken from about 24 of these birds, the rest were abandoned in whole," said Brendan Cox, a spokesman for Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

While it is legal to hunt geese until Dec. 21 in the area where the birds were found, it's an offence under the Wildlife Act to abandon edible flesh of any game species.

Fish and Wildlife is asking for help from the public to uncover the identity of the poachers.

"An ethical hunter is somebody that knows and values our wildlife legislation and really does their utmost to make the most of any part of the animal that they are harvesting," said Cox.

"When something is just shot and left, it's definitely a case of poaching."

Cox said he is unsure what will happen to the animal carcasses, but in some cases, officers look to donate usable meat.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fish and Wildlife at 1-800-642-3800 or submit information online.