Sonoma's Lyon Ranch rescues rare Patagonian cats

The recent death of a Sebastopol-area private animal breeder wasn’t unexpected, but the clock was ticking on the fate of six rare South American Geoffroy’s cats. That’s when the county Sheriff’s Office called Lynette Lyon a month ago.

“I was told I had 36 hours to come get them all or they would be euthanized,” said Lyon.

There was no one else on the Sebastopol property who was qualified, certified or quite likely interested in taking care of the Geoffroy’s or several domestic cats and horses that the Sebastopol man was keeping. The other residents, she was told, were “squatters” – not family members and possibly involved with drugs.

Why Lyon Ranch would be on speed-dial for county animal services shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, not everybody has five ocelots, a bush-baby, a serval, a caracal, several Saharan fennec foxes, 20 parrots, five dogs and 10 or so cats – “I’ve kind of lost track of those guys,” says Lyon.

Plus the alligator, don’t forget the alligator. Oh, and two camels.

Lyon Ranch has all those animals, and more, at its 12-acre property in the hills west of Sonoma. Founded by Robert and Robin Lyon around 2000, the ranch is known not only for its colorful menagerie but what it does with them, sharing many of the rescued animals with nursing homes, hospitals, retirement communities and elsewhere throughout the region in what’s called animal assisted therapy.

Add to that menagerie the six Geoffroy’s cats, South American felines named for a 19th century French zoologist, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. They are one of the smallest cats in the Americas, about the size and appearance of a small house cat with a densely spotted coat, whose natural range runs south from Bolivia across the pampas and Patagonia to the tip of the continent.

They were kept as breeding animals for zoos by John Erickson, whose wife died five or six years ago and whose other family had long since dispersed. Lyon Ranch had previously taken five of his ocelots; though he had been ailing for some time, said the younger Lyon, “I think he just didn’t want to believe he wasn’t doing that well.” When he died in mid-October he had not left any contingency plans for his animals’ welfare.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office was called in, and when the county Animal Control and the state Fish and Game refused to take the cats, deputies called Lyon Ranch.

They were, so to speak, game.

“The deputies did a phenomenal job of helping move the animals, and keeping the two squatters from interfering,” said Lyon. The cats, and the other animals, were brought to Lyon Ranch. While the Lyons are talking with the Arkansas-based Feline Conservation Federation about possible placement, so far they’ve only had interest from a zoo in Oregon for a single breeding pair.

If they can’t find a zoo, however, the Geoffroy’s have a home at Lyon Ranch, where they may live for another 15 years before dying a natural death. They don’t breed animals at Lyon Ranch – the founders are primarily interested in the animal assisted therapy program, and their daughter Lynnette, 27, is more focused on education. But the ranch has roomy enclosed habitats for all the animals, hand-built to state and federal specifications and inspected twice yearly.

Some of the animals at Lyon Ranch are more human-friendly than others; the Geoffroy’s are not. The larger ocelots – who can grow up to 45 pounds – are popular with education programs, although the slightly smaller African serval, while tolerant, is not exactly warm. “He just likes to sit there and be admired, like most cats.”

The fennec foxes and the serval came from Safari West as very young animals, when the animal handlers there thought that the Lyons’ hand-raising techniques might help the Santa Rosa wildlife park’s own outreach goals: Though the animals at Safari West are not allowed contact with the public, for special events – like this week’s Thanksgiving Safari – Lynette Lyon is asked over to bring her friendly, big-eared fennec foxes for people to have a closer encounter.

“She’s a remarkable young woman, an ambassador for wildlife,” enthused Aphrodite Caserta, director of communication at Safari West. “Her enthusiasm and passion carry over to whomever she talks to. And the animals are friends to her – she personalizes them, she knows them as individuals. She’s remarkable,” says Caserta.

Among the other animals at Lyon Ranch – only some of which are suitable for the animal assisted therapy – are a coatimundi, a porcupine, and a bush baby or galago, a tiny primate related to lemurs with big eyes and a long tail.

Then there’s that alligator, the latest of several alligators that have passed through the ranch. Like the others, this alligator came from a meth lab: “It seems to be a status symbol of some kind,” said the mystified Lyon. Alligators grow the whole of their 60-year lives, getting as big as 18 feet long. Why meth-heads like ’gators is inexplicable. “They’re clearly not thinking things through,” sighed Lyon.

The younger Lyon also makes media appearances and other education events with cats such as the serval, Nahndi, and others. They will be at the Sonoma Country Antiques wreath-making classes on Saturday, Dec. 3, though those classes are already booked. Bonnie Brown of Sonoma Country Antiques promises a fundraiser with some of the Lyon Ranch animals at their store in January.

Just 27, Lyon grew up amid her parents’ animal passion, and after spending some time in Wisconsin managing a zoo, and some time in South America “trying to save the rainforest,” she’s now committed to animal work at Lyon Ranch – “I’m doing my best to help the world from here.”

One cat at a time.

Contact the reporter at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.