Lizards and Bobcats and Snakes – Oh My!

Off a humdrum industrial stretch in Culver City lurks a lush indoor jungle filled with exotic animals. Taking a walk on the wild side is made easy at Star Eco Station, an 18,000-sq.-ft.-facility on Jefferson Boulevard, where a faux Mayan temple is home to over 100 threatened and endangered species: wild cats, tropical birds, reptiles and marine animals. Visitors are transported along mossy, dimly lighted paths to meet a lively cast of characters including Jay the bobcat, an 18-ft.-long python named Brutus, and Ozzie, a chatty, sometimes screeching cockatoo. Star Eco Station is less a mini-zoo and more a last-chance sanctuary for the nearly 200 animals who live there. The nonprofit organization works closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to rescue illegally imported animals and give them a home. Another big percentage of the center’s inhabitants are pets that people no longer want or can handle. The main mission of Eco Station, an offshoot of the STAR after-school enrichment program, is to teach children about wildlife preservation and the environment in a hands-on museum. Every year, 50,000 kids tour the facility; through a variety of ambitious outreach programs, the staff estimates they reach a total of nearly 2 million students. Camp is now is full swing, with 1st through 6th graders participating in themed weekly sessions such as “Reptiles Rock,” “Creepy Crawling Bugs” and “Animal Parts Up Close and Personal.” “We are so grassroots you can almost taste the manure,” says Erick Bozzi, Jr., vice president and director of wildlife management. “Doing things on a global level is really important, but if you don’t start with the kids,you’re lost.” Eco Station was founded in 1997 by Bozzi, his parents Erick, Sr. (now deceased) and Katya Bozzi, and his sister Katiana, who is director of education and outreach. It is one of the stellar spin-offs of the STAR (Science, Theatre, Art, Recreation) education program, an award-winning series of after-school enrichment classes, administered in public schools throughout California, that Bozzi’s parents created in 1986. The idea for Eco Station grew from the family’s love of animals, both big and small, wild and tame. Part of the Bozzi family lore is how the children were conspicuous in their Westside neighborhood. “While other kids would walk their dogs, my kids would walk their monitor lizard,” Katya Bozzi once told a reporter. At 18, Erick, Jr. took a job with L.A. Animal Care and Control; soon after, the family’s garage became a makeshift rescue center for exotics. Providing safe haven for unusual animals began this way in the early ’90s and has continued ever since. Red-eared sliders, one of the only animals kept at the Station that is native to the U.S., is one of the first attractions in the center. Once upon a time these turtles, easily recognized for the characteristic red stripe behind their eyes, were a staple of pet shops and popular among children. Since 1976, it has been illegal to sell sliders under four inches in diameter. “These turtles are not ideal pets for children,” cautions assistant director Chandra Comstock during a recent tour. “They are hard to care for and need lots of sunlight and vitamins.” However, with the proper care, a four-inch turtle can grow as large as a foot in diameter and live for 45 years. The oldest turtle in this crowd is Fern at 20. “We allow adoption of these turtles only to people with ponds,” notes Comstock. “It’s the most appropriate home.” The Oscars, a freshwater fish native to South America, were all pets until they became too big. Eco Station is a shelter for these castoffs. “It’s one of these fish they sell at the pet store when they are two inches long, but grow to over 75 pounds,” Comstock says. “They’re known as tank busters.” Carlos the alligator is another resident who outgrew his owner’s backyard. In fact, when Animal Control needs to seize illegally kept alligators, they call the Eco Station to tackle the task. “They’re trained to handle dogs, cats and raccoons, not gators,” Comstock says. Preservation extends even to coral, where a tank shows off brilliant samplings stolen from reefs in places like Fiji and the Philippines that have been confiscated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Coral takes a couple hundred years to grow back,” Comstock says of the devastating impact caused by those who break off sections as souvenirs. “They’re really stealing the home for these fish.” By far the most famous tenant of the Eco Station is Jay, a tame bobcat with a playful personality. Jay, kept illegally as a pet in someone’s home, has undergone several operations since his rescue to alleviate pain caused by having been declawed. He is a winning mascot when Eco Station goes on the road to visit classrooms. Another popular character is Ozzie, a Salmon-crested Cockatoo from Indonesia, who is often part of the center’s “road show.” Ozzie will live to about 30, while the life span of macaws is over 100 years. At 15, one of the macaws living at Eco Station had already lived in four different homes. The center will offer birds for adoption when they approve of conditions. “Birds like these are highly social and need at least three to five hours of attention daily,” says Comstock. “They’re pretty much like a human child.” Surprisingly, iguanas are the third most popular pet in the United States, something the Eco Station is reminded of daily by the contrast stream of calls from owners wanting to get rid of their “pet.” In L.A. County alone, 40,000 iguanas are put down every year. “They can be a good pet if you know you’re getting a six-foot-long lizard with claws,” Comstock says. “They need a lot of attention when they’re babies in order to be able to handle them when they get big.” Many of the Eco Station’s iguanas have been transferred to Sacramento, where a new center opened last Saturday. The enormous success of the Culver City facility, which is completely funded by donations, allows the Bozzis to continue to expand. A third Eco Station is scheduled to open in San Francisco in 2008. When 7-year-old Noelle Jimenez is asked about her favorite animal at Eco Station, she leans toward the less exotic. “I like the hamsters,” she says. “They all have different personalities.” STAR Eco Station is located at 10101 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Culver City. The center is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with 1-1/2-hour tours beginning on the half hour. Contact: 842-8060 or go online to www.ecostation.org.