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.

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.

A Washington state wildlife sanctuary is mourning the deaths of 20 wildcats amid a bird flu outbreak as the virus infects poultry farms, dairy cattle and some people across the nation. The Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington in Shelton,