With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive.
Wildlife sanctuary animals take to Christmas tree donations 'like catnip'
Listen
• 1:46
A leopard ponders what to do with the Christmas tree in its cage. The rescued wild animals at the Wildlife WayStation are given trees, rosemary, and magnolia branches regularly, which they enjoy playing with in the same way that domestic cats like catnip.
(
Ruxandra Guidi/KPCC
)
One of the old tigers at the Wildlife WayStation sanctuary inspects a Christmas tree inside his cage.
(
Ruxandra Guidi/KPCC
)
Maverick the bear ponders what to do with a Christmas tree inside his cage at the Wildlife WayStation sanctuary.
(
Ruxandra Guidi/ KPCC
)
Martine Colette, founder of the Wildlife WayStation sanctuary in the Los Angeles National Forest.
(
Ruxandra Guidi/KPCC
)
A daily diet chart for Jade, a female leopard at the Wildlife WayStation in Angeles National Forest.
(
Ruxandra Guidi/KPCC
)
For 36 years the Wildlife Waystation has offered refuge for more than 400 aging tigers, lions, leopards, bears, and chimpanzees that were once pets or attractions in circuses and the entertainment industry.
Martine Colette is the sanctuary’s founder, and the daughter of a naturalist who took her along on safaris from the time she was little. Colette says the Waystation depends solely on individual donations - so coming up with the $4,000-a-year required to care and feed an African lion, for example, has been difficult in this economy.
“We’re just hanging on by the skin of our teeth, day to day to day. I keep hoping for a miracle,” says Colette, leading visitors through the 160-acre site.
Donors have offered the Waystation gifts and services from office equipment and veterinary supplies to Christmas trees. Fifteen years ago, volunteers at the sanctuary figured out that the wild animals here love rubbing up against the trees and playing with them — the same way that domestic cats love catnip.
Support for LAist comes from
“When an animal lives in an environment, it’s nice to introduce new sounds, new smells, new sights, textures, into their environment," Colette explains. "And Christmas trees are a very popular item—so this is their fun time, when they get this really nice piney smell.”
Oliver Holt and Sons Christmas Trees donated 70 unsold pines. The Waystation’s army of almost 400 volunteers has placed one in each of the big mammals’ cages throughout Wednesday.
At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.
But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Restaurants share resources in the food hall in West Adams as Los Angeles reckons with increasing restaurant closures. -
It will be the second national day of protest against President Donald Trump. -
The university says the compact, as the Trump administration called it, could undermine free inquiry and academic excellence. -
This is the one time you can do this legally! -
Metro officials said it will be able to announce an opening date “soon.” -
While working for the county, the DA’s office alleges that 13 employees fraudulently filed for unemployment, claiming to earn less than $600 a week.
Best of LAist