Animal Welfare & Conservation

From protecting primates to bringing back big cats on the brink of extinction and nurturing neglected animals in need of a furever home, the Annenberg Foundation is all about animals and habitats that allow all to thrive.

The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing

Soon to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing (200 feet long and 165 feet wide), the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will preserve and protect the animals and natural ecosystems that must compete with hundreds of thousands of vehicles traveling the 101 freeway daily in Southern California.

Wallis’s initial commitment of $26 million dollars —including a $1 million kick off grant— was the largest private contribution to a wildlife crossing to date, inspiring efforts to build more to improve habitat connectivity across the United States.

Congress in November 2021 passed a national infrastructure package that for the first time set aside $350 million in federal funding for wildlife crossings to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions in all 50 states.

In 2023, Wallis announced a $10 million challenge grant for the Wildlife Crossing Fund, in support of the National Wildlife Foundation’s effort to raise $500 million for wildlife crossings across the country and globe. Core partners in the Annenberg crossing include Caltrans, the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy / Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, the National Wildlife Federation, and a world-renowned design team led by a landscape architectural practice, Rock Design Associates.

Learn more about the history of the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing here.

Donate to support the completion and stewardship of the crossing, and advance future wildlife crossings here.

Wallis Annenberg PetSpace

A state-of-the-art facility for the health and well-being of companion animals, PetSpace opened to the public in 2017 in Playa Vista, Calif., complete with a medical facility for animals initially considered “unadoptable.” PetSpace offers companion animal adoptions, camps, classes, and training for animal lovers. Learn More

Primate Preservation

Wallis extended support in 2018 to Chimp Haven, the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary in Louisiana caring for hundreds of chimps formerly used in biomedical research. To ensure the retired animals spend their remaining years in the most humane environment possible, she provided lead funding in 2024 for an expansion, enabling more chimps to enjoy many of the experiences they would have in the wild. Wallis also supported the world’s only sanctuary for endangered gorillas, the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center — helping to protect Grauer’s gorillas and over half a million acres of critical ape habitat managed by the community in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Did You Know!

In recognition of her visionary and innovative philanthropy supporting animal welfare, Wallis received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Humane Society of the United States in 2019.