Bird flu kills 20 big cats at Washington State sanctuary 😲

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We’ve been tracking some, ah, somewhat concerning developments regarding bird flu in the U.S. this year:

Not sure it’s time to totally freak out over this thing yet. Stuff like this has a way of getting overblown real quick.

Bird flu ripped through a Washington state wildlife sanctuary, killing 20 big cats, the center said in a Facebook post, calling the deaths a ‘significant loss.’

The first cat got sick around Thanksgiving, Mark Mathews, director of the Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton, told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle. By early December, the state had confirmed cases of bird flu in their cats.

The sanctuary is home to many cats from the small to the medium to the big:

In a Facebook post, the sanctuary said that big cats “are particularly vulnerable to this virus, which can cause subtle initial symptoms but progress rapidly, often resulting in death within 24 hours due to pneumonia-like conditions.”

The sanctuary listed the animals it has lost to the virus:

1 Amur/Bengal Tiger: Tabbi

4 Cougars: Hooligan, Holly, Harley, Hannah Wyoming

1 African Caracal: Crackle

2 Canada Lynx: Chuckie and P’uch’ub

1 Geoffroy Cat: Mouse

1 Bengal Cat: Pebbles

1 Eurasian Lynx: Thumper

4 Bobcats: Digger, Willie-Bob, Ruffian, Tank

5 African Servals: Nile, Percival, Nefertiti, Blondie, Shasta

The sanctuary said it is “under quarantine and will remain closed to the public until further notice.”