Hogan struggling to care for animals

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers FRIENDS—Mollie Hogan snuggles with Phoenix, a 20-year-old mountain lion, at the Wildworks facility in Topanga. Hogan founded The Nature of Wildworks to provide lifetime care for nonreleasable animals. In turn, the animals participate in programs to teach the community about nature. Wildworks currently houses about 50 animals, including squirrels, hawks, reptiles, bobcats and mountain lions.

Mollie Hogan's passion for helping animals began about 15 years ago while she was working at the Los Angeles Zoo and leading a show called "Wild in the City." When the show was canceled, the animals had nowhere to go and Hogan had to come up with a plan to save them.

"I had raised them for five years," she said. "I wanted to take care of them for the rest of their lives."

Hogan temporarily housed the animals, which included two mountain lions, at the Moorpark College Teaching Zoo while she obtained permits to house them on her own land in Topanga.

Hogan began a nonprofit organization called The Nature of Wildworks, which had a goal of caring for injured or captured wild animals and teaching humans how to coexist with wildlife. Today, Hogan and her assistants make regular visits to parks and other public venues to put the animals on display and teach audiences about their role in nature.

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers HOME SWEET HOME—Boxer, an African serval, is a permanent resident at The Nature of Wildworks facility.

"Over the years I've worked at every park in the Santa Monica Mountains," Hogan said. "Our mission is twofold: to take care of the animals for their lifetime and to teach people about animals. That's what we do with our outreach programs."

Her daily routine includes medicating, feeding and walking the animals. She also must clean their enclosures.

Hogan said she wakes each morning to the howling of a pair of coyotes that she cares for.

Wildworks is home to 50 animals, including a red-tailed hawk, mountain lions, bobcats, ferrets, red and grey foxes and a variety of reptiles.

Although Hogan has reached many of her goals for Wildworks, one has remained out of reach: public access.

Hogan's property can only be accessed by traveling down a long private road, making it impossible for the public to view the animals.

"Everyone wants to come here," Hogan said. "But although people in Topanga love animals, they don't like traffic."

Hogan has been working on relocating her operation, and recently inquired about the usage of 10 acres of land at King Gillette Ranch near Calabasas. the former Soka University site.

"They are evaluating all the input right now," Hogan said. "It takes a long time to make a decision like this, so we're just waiting."

Hogan's home is on a 12-acre site, but the animal compound is only on a quarter of an acre.

"It's very small and we're very limited," Hogan said. "We get calls almost every day to take in orphaned or injured animals and we can't do it."

Wildworks is also feeling the pressure of this financially challenging time.

"We are struggling really hard just to maintain normal operation," Hogan said. "We have 50 animals here and we are providing lifetime care. . . . Although these animals are not our pets, we treat them with the same respect and level of care."

Hogan said the Wildworks food budget alone runs about $30,000 a year.

"We love doing it," she said. "We don't want to stop. We've had to just sort of reach out further than we normally would lately."

Those who would like to support Wildworks can sponsor an animal or make a donation through the organization's website at natureofwildworks.org.

Hogan said the Wildworks animals are available for parties or school functions. You can see the animals at a free program at 10 a.m., Sat., March 28 at Oak Park Community Center.