A big cat sanctuary in Washington is temporarily closed and quarantined after bird flu killed 20 wild cats there, including cougars, bobcats and a tiger.

Bird flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit hard: 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – died over the course of weeks.

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington announced it is under quarantine amid a devastating bird flu outbreak that has killed 20 big cats.

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center in Shelton, Washington, about 80 miles west of Seattle, cares for displaced wild felines, such as cougars, bobcats, servals, tigers, lynxes and more. The nonprofit lost 20 cats since November. Animal health officials confirmed the cause was avian influenza, according to their Facebook.

The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington is under quarantine amid a devastating bird flu outbreak that has killed 20 big cats.

Twenty big cats, including a half-Bengal tiger and four cougars, died between late November and mid-December at a sanctuary in Washington State after becoming infected with bird flu, according to the facility’s director.

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington lost 20 of its big cats to bird flu, the sanctuary announced. The outbreak took the lives of one Amur/Bengal tiger, four cougars, one African caracal, two Canada lynx, one Geoffroy cat, one Bengal, one Eurasian lynx, four bobcats and five African servals, officials said.

In a matter of days, dozens of large cats have died of bird flu in several states from Arizona to Washington. Police in Houston said several kids trying to rob a man were subsequently shot, with one now in critical condition.

The killer virus swept its way through a Washington non-profit conservation centre, forcing the charity to close its doors and undergo a strict quarantine in the hope the bird flu would not take any m