A woman who claimed she was bitten by an unusual animal called a binturong — also known as a bearcat — at a wildlife sanctuary on North Whidbey is suing for damages from “severe bodily and emotional injuries,” according to the lawsuit.

Attorney Michael Clark of Tacoma, who is representing plaintiff Wendy Hansen, filed the complaint for personal injuries against Alpha Encounters, which is doing business as Northwest Wildlife Sanctuary and owned by Dave Coleburn. The lawsuit was filed in Island County Superior Court on June 4.

The sanctuary is located on Highway 20 near Deception Pass. The website states that it provides housing, care and rehabilitation to animals that are not releasable into the wild. For a fee, guests can have close-up visits with wolves, porcupines, snakes, alligators, tortoises, lizards, badgers, owls, raccoons, sloths, a Siberian lynx and much more.

The lawsuit states that Hansen and family members were at the sanctuary celebrating her birthday in October 2024. Coleburn led the tour and the guests followed his instructions, the complaint states.

Hansen and her husband went into the binturong room with Coleburn. While he was taking photos of Hansen and her husband with the animals, a female binturong named Angel started sniffing her. Hansen followed Coleburn’s instruction to hold up her hand for the animal to sniff. Without warning, Angel grabbed Hansen’s forearm with both front paws and bit her on the wrist, the complaint alleges.

The San Diego Zoo describes binturongs as having a face like a cat and a body like a bear, but with a prehensile tail that’s as long as the body. The tree-living carnivores, native to Southeast Asia, are relatives of civets “but look more like gigantic dust mops and smell like a freshly made batch of popcorn,” the website states. The animals are about 2-3 feet long and weigh 30 to 50 pounds. Females are about 20% larger and heavier than the males and are the dominant sex. Binturongs are considered endangered in some parts of their range.

The lawsuit alleges that Coleburn “failed to properly supervise the interaction, warn of the potential dangers, or take adequate precautions to prevent the attack.”

The complain demands both economic and non-economic damages as well as attorney’s fees.

An inspection report by a veterinary medical officer with the USDA on Sept. 10, 2024, states that a different guest was bitten by a sloth during a tour. A man was sitting in a chair and watching a movie when a sloth climbed onto his arm and bit him, the report states.

“During public exhibition, any animal must be handled so there is minimal risk of harm to the animal and to the public, with sufficient distance and/or barriers between the animal and the general viewing public so as to assure the safety of animals and the public,” the veterinary officer wrote in the report.

In addition, the veterinary officer noted that two dog/wolf hydrids didn’t have up-to-date rabies and distemper vaccines; a river otter got sick and died without immediate veterinary care; and the facility didn’t have records of an opossum that died or the dates of acquisition of several other animals.

Coleburn didn’t return a call for comment.