iStockphoto / Bransen Jackson
The emerging Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI / bird flu) outbreak across the United States has already claimed the lives of 20 big cats at a sanctuary in Washington state. The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington shared a tragic update days ago with the list of the big cats that have already lost their lives to bird flu.
In a post on Facebook, the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington detailed how cats are particularly vulnerable to bird flu which was brought to the sanctuary through wild birds. Though it is primarily spread through “respiratory secretions and bird-to-bird contact” it can also be spread through “carnivorous mammals that ingest birds or other products” which is another way of saying these big cats can (and possibly did) contract bird flu through eating wild birds infected with HPAI.
In the update, the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington which is located on Harstine Island north of Olympia, shared that as of this month over over half of the big cats at the sanctuary had contracted bird flu.
The symptoms are subtle at first in big cats but “progress rapidly, often resulting in death within 24 hours due to pneumonia-like conditions” which has been the case with the list of big cats below they’ve lost to bird flu:
- 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
4 mountain lions, 4 bod cats, and 5 African Servals is such an enormous loss. Not to mention the half-Bengal tiger Tabbi… Truly heartbreaking.
According to a report from NPR, the loss of these big cats to bird flu has resulted in the sanctuary having to destroy 8,000 pounds of food. They’ve also had to engage in a deep cleaning of the entire facility. This has caused considerable financial distress on the sanctuary which is now reaching out to the public for aid in this time of need.
For those seeking out ways to help keep the remaining big cats happy, healthy, and safe from bird flu, the Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington has information on their Facebook post (which can be found here) about how you can help.