Wildlife Waystation Gets State Approval to Reopen to Public

Martine Colette celebrated Friday morning after getting word that her Wildlife Waystation can reopen to the public.

Citing health and safety violations, state Fish and Game officials eight months ago shut the animal refuge, which Colette has operated for 25 years in Angeles National Forest.

On Friday morning, Colette announced to her staff that the 160-acre facility that houses about 1,000 exotic and wild animals has been allowed to resume public tours.

“I made the announcement with three hip-hip-hoorays,” Colette said. “We have been ready for a long time.”

The news was bittersweet, Colette said, because under the Fish and Game restrictions, the Waystation cannot accept new animals until the refuge obtains a state restricted species permit, which agency officials and Colette said could take as long as a year. She added that she has already submitted the application.

“So the truth is, we’re not really open,” Colette said. “When you look at all the animals we have not been able to help, it’s heartbreaking and shattering. We’ve had to turn away thousands of animals.”

The Waystation, nestled in the forest off Little Tujunga Canyon Road, formerly accepted all types of injured, unwanted and abandoned creatures, ranging from black bears and boa constrictors to lions, jaguars, monkeys and birds.

In addition to health and safety violations, Fish and Game officials in April cited the facility for a number of cage violations that the agency said threatened the welfare of the animals and the public.

“We identified about 60 cages that were the most troubled,” said Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano. “Problems ranged from gauge of wiring and flooring not being up to code to cages that were so small animals could reach through and swipe at people. Some could get out.”

Colette said the public was never in any danger and no animal has ever escaped from its cage.

“That is absolutely untrue,” she said. “There was never a need to close us. It was all minor stuff. When you walk through, visibly, there aren’t any changes.”

Colette cited several alterations Fish and Game required before the Waystation could reopen to the public, if not to new animals.

These included decreasing from 3 1/2 to 3 inches the space between the bottom of the cage and the cement floor in the pen of an old, 800-pound grizzly bear.

Colette said she also hired an engineer to prove that the orangutan’s cage was earthquake-proof.

A roof was added to a large cage that houses four African lions even though, Colette said, the animals--which are old and weigh between 400 and 500 pounds--are unable to jump over the pen’s 10-foot-high fence.

“Remember, most of the animals we have here are old, blind, sick . . . They’re not going to get out of these cages,” Colette said.

Although the Waystation has been allowed to reopen for tours, its problems are far from over. The facility remains on probation for such environmental violations as dumping animal waste into creek beds. It still faces the threat of punitive action by a handful of state and local agencies for those violations.

Colette said she and her staff are working with those agencies to address the issues. In the meantime, she said she was thrilled to reopen her nonprofit Wildlife Waystation to the estimated 300,000 people who visit it annually.

“People are excited, too,” she said. “The calls started at 7 a.m. today and we’ve had calls every two to three minutes, to schedule tours.”