Watch Earth Matters
on CNN and
CNN International.
|
Mollie's backyard menagerie
A retirement community for zoo animals
November 12, 1997
Web posted at: 11:27 p.m. EST (0427 GMT)From Correspondent Jim Hill
TOPANGA, California (CNN) -- When it's time to feed the pets at Mollie Hogan's place, there's a special premium on the word "care" -- as in "careful."
CNN's Jim Hill reports.
Hogan's backyard menagerie includes such things as an African bat-eared fox, a barn owl, a boa constrictor, a South American macaw and exotic cats from Africa.
It began taking shape several years ago when Hogan, who is an animal keeper at the Los Angeles Zoo, began taking in animals that were no longer wanted or needed by other zoos or animal programs.
"I am really attached to all the individual animals," she said. "I hand-raised them from babies. I felt very obligated to care for them. I always wanted to continue caring for them for their lifetimes."
To pay for lifetime care, her non-profit Nature of the Wild Works takes the animals to schools and other venues, educating youngsters about wild animals.
Wild Works, which is supported entirely by donations, must come up with $1,000 a month just to feed the animals, which are too wild to be pets and too tame to release. The hope is that some day Wild Works will be a full-service retirement community for more displaced and unwanted wild animals.
"This is a problem man created," says Susan Clark, one of the foundation's volunteers. "The only solution is that man should be able to provide some life-long care for these animals."
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser windowExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
|
Sound off on our message boards You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.