California Wildlife Center

Rescued 2008-03-28: Injured Sea Lion Pup

Our Marine Mammal Rescue Team recently rescued an injured sea lion pup from Westward Beach in Malibu. Responding to a flood of calls from life guards and others, Jonsie Ross and team found a 9-month old sea lion pup with gill net wrapped tightly around its throat and mouth. This prevented the pup from eating and had produced a 2-inch ring of raw flesh where the fur had been completely rubbed off. The pup was transported to the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro for medical treatment, since the CWC hospital does not have facilities for marine mammal care.

Jonsie commented "Her prognosis for recovery is good, but she still has some rough road ahead of her. Each year, thousands of seals, porpoises, dolphins, whales, turtles, and seabirds die due to entanglement in gill nets and fishing line. We ask the public´s help in cleaning up after you go fishing. Please take any loose line, weights, and hooks with you when you leave. It's better for the environment and the animals, birds and people that live in it."

Admitted 2008-03-27: Baby Opossum

This baby female opossum arrived as an orphan at CWC on March 27, weighing 60 grams. At first she was fed 4 times a day with special formula and has graduated to a schedule of two feeding per day of special formula along with juvenile opossum diet. Juvenile opossum diet consists of dry cat food in the morning, and in the evening, soaked cat food, finely chopped fruits and vegetables, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and meal worms. After 11 days she weighed 106 grams.

Admitted 2008-03-01: Baby Hummingbird

An orphaned nestling hummingbird arrived at the end of February. It was so small that it had no feathers. We still don't know what kind it is — probably an Anna's Hummingbird or an Allen's Hummingbird. It will be kept in an incubator until it grows more feathers. It is hand-fed with a syringe every 30 minutes during the day.