ANIMAL REFUGE REOPENS TOURS OFF TO ROARING GOOD START.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer A llama llama (lä`mə), South American domesticated ruminant mammal, Lama glama, of the camel family. Genetic studies indicate that it is descended from the guanaco. eagerly bent its head for a scratch as Billy Smith, 13, stood by the chain-link fence of a petting zoo Sunday. Smith, a Granada Hills resident, was waiting for the start of an hourlong tour in which he hoped to see alligators, lions, bears and wolves. ``The tour is supposed to be fun,'' Smith said. ``It's been fun so far. They have some really neat animals.'' The Wildlife Waystation The Wildlife WayStation is a 160-acre refuge in northern Los Angeles County dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating wild and exotic animals. A charitable corporation located within the boundaries of Angeles National Forest, the facility was founded in 1976 by animal activist on 160 acres in the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los opened to visitors for the first time since it was ordered closed in April by state regulators who found health and safety violations. ``I hope something like this never happens again to anybody, anywhere,'' said refuge founder and director Martine Colette about the closing. More than 600 visitors were expected at the nonprofit animal sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead maintaining each animal until his or her natural death. Sunday to see hundreds of animals, including Bob, a lion; Loal, an orangutan orangutan (ōrăng`  tăn), an ape, Pongo pygmaeus, found in swampy coastal forests of Borneo and Sumatra. ; and Giggles, a binturong binturongsee arctictisbinturong. - a relative of the mongoose mongoose, name for a large number of small, carnivorous, terrestrial Old World mammals of the civet family. They are found in S Asia and in Africa, with one species extending into S Spain. . ``I'm extremely happy, very happy,'' Colette said about seeing visitors again. On April 7, the state Department of Fish and Game ordered the refuge to cease and desist Cease and desist (also called C & D) is a legal term used primarily in the United States which essentially means "to halt" or "to end" an action ("cease") and to refrain from doing it again in the future ("desist"). from code violations in nearly two-thirds of the facility's 200 cages. State regulators also said they feared the practice of hosing cages could pollute stream beds with animal waste. Colette said ``virtually thousands upon thousands'' of dollars have since been spent to bring the cages into code compliance, but she did not know the precise figure. State officials said more work still needs to be done at the refuge. The closing put a crimp crimp a regular wave formation of small dimensions, e.g. the crimp of wool fibers epitomized in the Merino breed and its derivatives. crimp marks marks made by wrinkling the x-ray film while holding it between the fingers. on donations usually made by visitors and forced the refuge operators to turn away more than 2,000 abandoned, injured or abused animals, officials said. ``Lots of animals were impacted because we couldn't accept them here,'' said Colette as she dotingly scratched a lion that pressed itself agains the side of its cage. ``A good number of those animals died, because when you have a critically wounded animal and someone is driving here and we are closed, they have to drive somewhere else,'' she said. In July, state regulators allowed the refuge to accept some California native wildlife species. The refuge permanently houses 1,100 animals, and about 4,000 wild and exotic animals come through its entrance each year for care. Although the goal is to find other homes for the animals - the Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo founded in 1966, is a large zoo located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Zoo, located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, is home to 1,200 animals from around the world. recently accepted a couple of the tigers - the likelihood is that many will spend the rest of their lives in the sanctuary, said Jerry Gillaspie, chairman of the membership committee and a volunteer at the refuge for 10 years. The refuge supports its $2.5 million annual operating budget Noun 1. operating budget - a budget for current expenses as distinct from financial transactions or permanent improvements budget items, operating cost, operating expense, overhead - the expense of maintaining property (e.g. mostly with individual donations that declined during the closing, Colette said. ``It was a two-fisted smack in the face,'' said Colette, but some regular sponsors dug a little deeper in their pockets ``to help us out, which is a commentary of what great members we have here.'' Colette, who opened the sanctuary in 1976 on Little Tujunga Canyon Road and sold her Hollywood-based costume-design business to focus on the refuge, said the temporary closing was ``emotionally debilitating'' for the volunteers. Some 300 volunteers build animal enclosures, clean cages, hand-feed baby animals Note: For the correct names of offspring in the animal kingdom, see List of baby animal names. Baby Animals were a 1990s hard rock band from Australia. Biography Early History , raise funds and help give educational tours for students on weekdays and public tours twice a month on Sundays. The refuge's plight helped drum up support from first-time visitors such as Pharrin Lewis, 14, of Burbank. She caught the reopening on television and came by to see the big cats. ``It's a lot closer (than a zoo),'' she said. ``It's much closer. I think we will end up giving a donation.'' Don Herron, 41, of Santa Clarita said he fills the soda machine at the refuge and wanted to see more of it. ``I'm very pleased to get as close to the animals as we are,'' said Herron as he stood by the cages of black bears and grizzly bears while lions roared in the distance. ``The tigers are right up to the gate to us.'' After a morning tour, Bob Lindgren of Sherman Oaks gave it a thumbs up. ``It was wonderful,'' said the first-timer. ``I really enjoyed it. ``It's more than a zoo,'' he said. ``It is not just displaying (animals) but helping them.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: A 1,500-pound Kodiak bear greets visitors Sunday at the reopened Wildlife Waystation. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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