If you give a squirrel a cookie…Each day we receive a variety of calls and we never know where they might lead. While many make us smile or laugh, some are emotional. These calls remind us that behind every rescue is a person who stopped what they were doing to help an animal in need. That gives us hope.
2025 will go down in the record books as a year of many challenges. Yet, with challenges come growth and shining moments of success! Things started off slower than in 2024, but that quickly changed. By the second week of January, devastating wildfires forced us to evacuate. Response operations shifted to a remote staging location.
On August 22, 2025, an adult female Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) was brought to the center by a good Samaritan after being found grounded and unable to fly in Los Angeles.
Today, we have the technology to illuminate the night with brilliant electric lights. While modern day lighting is helpful, it can become extremely dangerous ‘light pollution’ for the night-active animals that share the world around us.
Each year, during the months of March-May, our Marine Mammal Rescue team at CWC receives a high volume of calls regarding stranded Northern Elephant Seal pups on the beaches in Malibu. Each pup that comes in for rehabilitation receives a second chance at life, which was the case for patient #25-097.
It is with deep gratitude and great excitement that I introduce myself as the new Executive Director of California Wildlife Center. Stepping into this role is both a profound honor and a heartfelt responsibility – one I do not take lightly.
California Wildlife Center’s ability to help 4,000 patients annually is largely due to the stellar team of volunteers and interns that donate their time and hard work to assist our animal care staff. Every year, CWC hosts 25 interns who are admitted into one of three internship tracks – Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Hotline and Outreach.
Living in Southern California, we are all accustomed to the year-round fire season and the impact it can have on our lives. When a fire is imminent, humans are often preoccupied with our own need for survival; we often forget about how natural disasters like wildfires impact the surrounding wildlife.
In December, we were contacted by an Agoura Hills animal control officer, letting us know their team was going out to rescue a Gray Fox sitting in daylight atop a high chain-link fence, refusing to jump down. This is highly abnormal for a fox.
CWC’s core mission to rehabilitate wildlife wouldn’t be possible without our incredible, compassionate community in the greater Los Angeles area. Angelenos live in close proximity to wildlife.
P.O. Box 2022
Malibu, CA 90265
Hotline Phone: +1 310 458-WILD (9453)
E-mail: admin@cawildlife.org
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