Celebration Raises Funds for Wildlife Shelter

In their natural habitat, mountain lions can roam hundreds of miles in the rugged chaparral and isolated canyons.

But when they are injured or raised in captivity, they are often confined to cages.

Mollie Hogan, director of the Nature of Wildworks wildlife care center in Topanga, hoped that proceeds from a mountain lion festival Saturday would help her buy a large secure enclosure for the lions and other animals she takes in there.

The wooded area is a haven for captivity-reared animals that can neither be set free nor adopted as pets.

Money raised Saturday will go toward the purchase of a $10,000 enclosed expanse that features grass, water, shrubs and logs, Hogan said. Different animals, she said, will take turns spending time in the 2,000-square-foot enclosure.

“It’s to create space for them to play,” said Hogan, 46. “Sometimes they get bored.”

About 300 people celebrated wildlife during the center’s annual fund-raising performance. Volunteers combined music, history and sketches about animals at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum on Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

The performers took an owl, a squirrel and a macaw onstage as part of the show. Volunteers portrayed President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a conservationist, scientist Charles Darwin and other characters.

“I like to do a creative presentation,” said Hogan, who also performed, singing country tunes as the audience clapped along. “It’s a more entertaining and educational format when you use acting and music.”

Nadine Bozon-Vialle, 39, a volunteer at the wildlife center, said, “It’s fantastic for the children because they learn the animals can be friendly.”

During the year, center volunteers perform at schools, summer camps and parks to raise funds to provide care for the 20 animals, which include three mountain lions, a bobcat, fox, opossums and a hawk.