Martine Colette founded the Wildlife WayStation in 1976 as a refuge for wild and exotic animals, and lived in the lodge on the property. In addition to large animals such as big cats and bears, it at one time housed the largest group of chimpanzees in the Western United States. Although the intent was to rehabilitate the animals, many remained for the rest of their lives. A distemper epidemic in 1992 closed the sanctuary for almost a year. The sanctuary had been treating a large number of racoons and skunks with canine distemper, which crossed over to the big cats. 18 big cats died in this epidemic. In September 1995, the Waystation was contacted after some big cats escaped from Ligertown in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. They rescued 27 lions and ligers from "filthy, feces-filled tunnels and pens," many of them in poor health and ranging from cubs to full grown adults, but 19 others were killed by authorities in the roundup. The rescued animals were taken to the Waystation and cared for. The owners of Ligertown were charged with cruelty to animals. The Wildlife WayStation was seeking to move from its mountain location, possibly to the northern edge of Palm Springs, in 2007. It was looking to create an 80 acre facility outside the Angeles National Forest and downsize the original location to about 20 acres. Suzanne Sommers was said to have been considering donating the land. In August 2009, a forest fire in the Angeles National Forest threatened the facility, and many of the animals were evacuated. In May 2016 numerous employees and volunteers were fired, leading to controversy. In December 2017, the Creek Fire burned part of the facility, and animals were evacuated. State officials announced in 2019 that the facility was shutting down. The property was put up for sale that October.
Animals
The Wildlife WayStation housed about 400 wild and exotic animals, including lions, tigers, leopards, mountain lions, jaguars, bobcats, bears, primates, deer, coyotes, and wolves. Many animals in the facility were the property of people who found they were unwilling or unable to continue to keep their so-called exotic pets and either abandoned the animals, which were later found and rescued by Colette and the staff, or surrendered them to the WayStation, escaping further responsibility for the animals. The animals often arrived at the WayStation in poor health and were cared for by veterinarians.
In the media
Martine Colette AKA Martine Dawson appeared as herself in the Samuel Fuller movie 'White Dog'. Part of the film was shot on the premises. The Wildlife WayStation was the focus of the first episode "" of Marcel's Quantum Kitchen on the SyFy channel.
