Over the past several weeks, 20 big cats, including a Bengal tiger and four cougars, have tragically succumbed to bird flu at an animal sanctuary in Washington State.
“This loss has deeply impacted our team, and we are all mourning the passing of these remarkable animals,” the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington shared in a heartfelt post on Facebook.
The bird flu, a viral infection typically spread by wild birds, primarily transmits through respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact. It can also affect mammals that ingest infected birds or other contaminated products.
To prevent the further spread of the virus, the sanctuary has been placed under quarantine and closed to the public, the statement noted.
The deaths occurred between late November and mid-December, as confirmed by the sanctuary’s director, Mark Mathews, in an interview with the New York Times.
“We’ve never encountered anything like this; typically, the animals pass away due to old age,” he remarked. “But this virus is exceptionally dangerous—it’s a particularly severe strain.”
This tragic event unfolds amid the broader spread of bird flu across the U.S., with the virus also infecting cattle and poultry, and severely impacting at least one human case.
The sanctuary has lost several species, including five African serval cats, four bobcats, two Canada lynx, and a Bengal tiger. Only 17 big cats remain at the facility.
“Cats are especially vulnerable to this virus, which can show subtle initial symptoms but progress quickly, often leading to death within 24 hours due to pneumonia-like complications,” the sanctuary explained in its Friday Facebook post.
Although bird flu has long affected U.S. poultry flocks, the virus began infecting cattle for the first time in March. Furthermore, since April 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 61 human cases of bird flu in the U.S.
The CDC has stated that the general public’s risk remains low, and there has been no sustained human-to-human transmission. While most cases have been mild, one person in Louisiana was hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu this month.
In response to the outbreak among dairy cows, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared an emergency last week. The declaration is intended to ensure that the state government has the necessary resources and flexibility to address the crisis effectively.
