Tigers, a layer and a river: Moorpark College’s educational zoo for professional zoological students

The layer didn’t want to go into his crate.

The molded cat’s name was Naomi, she had just been introduced, and now it was time to do as she was told.

“C’mon – in your car,” pleaded Thomas Barber, a student at Moorpark College.

Naomi, who was caught by the reward Astilla of the students Astilla, became the image of Lithe, the beauty of Flance as she kneels around the fenced in the dust, she went down briefly with her avop crate – but not in it.

“Rethinky about creating behavioral action,” animal training coach Amanda Stansbury lent.

After about 10 minutes – and the return of the crate – Naomi came in.

“A great job — a great reflection of what it’s like to work on it,” Stansbury said.

What stage is seen in Moorpark College’s Animal Care’s and Training Program, where students get real world experience at the Campus Zoo’ for teaching.

Home to 120 animals representing 110 species, the zoo is one of two places in the country that have such facilities – the other is the Santa Fe College which also offers the Zoo in Tainesville, FLASH.

The program traces its roots to 1971, when the community college began offering a class in exceptional animal studies, expanding three full years later. Students learn on the job, prepare food for the animals, feed them, cover them, and even put on demonstrations for children who visit the school field trip.

“We do a lot of hands-on training, and for me, it’s always magical,” said Gary Mui, who graduated from the program in 1995 and can now hobble.

The program admits 60 students annually, and approximately 45 graduate each year.

Moorpark College students barber, left, and Trinity Astilla, right, led the charge to rewrite Naomi in her crate at the school’s zoo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“The attraction is a sign that this process has been difficult and time-consuming,” said Mara Rodriguez, the zoo’s development coordinator.

Still, it’s popular: Moorpark’s 150 or so college students work each year, getting in by lottery.

This two-year program prepares graduates for a variety of fields, from zookeeping to Hollywood animal training, wildlife conservation and animal cruelty.

Wait, pest control?

MoorPark College Student Sebastian Villa Scops seeds out of a pumpkin for animal feed at the school’s zoo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“In all landfills now, they use natural methods to stop insects such as seagulls and rats … so they succeed in hawks,” said Rodriguez, who found himself working at the Zoo this year.

The zoo is open to the public on weekends – Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for children – and despite taking animals as young as five years old, and despite taking animals such as the grapagos tortoise with $3.5 million.

Many of the weekenders are real and real on the show. They even include animal exhibits in the zoo’s Outdoor Theater.

“I’m on stage with my guided stick, my equipment, and the porcupine circles, follow me, roll the ball,” said Jadyn Carnicella, who is a 20-year-old resident. “It’s one of my favorite parts, because it shows how amazing our animals are. It’s really a way to promote conservation.”

Kind of like school

Moorpark College is located in the Simi Simi Simi Simi apartment complex, about 45 kilometers northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Walking among the strange animals of the zoo, it feels very far away – especially at the edge of the reserve, 8,000-square-foot tiger.

During a recent visit, the carnicella and another student, Ziqu-turto, fed two big cats, who had been clinging to the fence after catching their whiff: a mix of beef and horse called “Nebraska.” (Carnicella is advised about its diet: A student has developed “severe food poisoning.”)

Trinity Astulla, a student at Moorpark College, watches as a llama that makes the alarm go off at an educational zoo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

He and sato hit large clumps of flesh with the chain-link barrier, careful to keep their hands flat, lest they lose their digits.

“Being here is a privilege and I always want to keep my skills sharp, especially around tigers, because they are big and dangerous predators,” said Sato, 26, from Torrance. “It’s a privilege to be able to work with them and be entrusted with their care.”

One of those big cats, Neil, is something of a celebrity: he was stripped from the city’s past after appearing in a widely seen YouTube clip with Paul Paul, a TV personality.

Unlike institutions like the Los Angeles Zoo, the Moorpark College facility has not faced much criticism on ethical grounds, perhaps due to its academic focus. It causes many animals that were previously injured, separated from their social groups or kept illegally as pets – like neil.

“When we get animals, it’s always about the right fit — not just the right fit for our program but the right fit for each animal,” Mui said. “We want to make sure they have the best life possible.”

MOORPark College’s Mara Rodriguez Pets a Galapagos Tortoise at the Exiting Zoo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Students must do a training stint in each of the four main categories – carnivore, herbivore, bird and oblivion – so that they may increase working with animals that they find unpleasant. For Mui, it was rats. Same for Rodriguez.

What does a typical day look like? Call at 6:30 in the morning, then clean the animal enclosure and perform other tasks. Classes start at 9 am and last until late afternoon, then continue in the afternoon until 4 pm, when students begin closing the zoo for the day.

On weekends they don’t have a section – but they have to work the zoo, along with a few experts who “represent and supervise everything,” said Mui.

Graduate Achievements

After two years, students enrolled in this program have completed all of their general education requirements for an Associate of Science degree in animal care and training. Others receive a certificate of completion. And where did they come from?

Grace Nasser, who grew up in Northridge and graduated in 2023, works at Dolphin Quest Hawaii, where customers swim and learn about the marine mammals. He had never worked with dolphins before but got the chance during a Dolphin Internship that the college was running during his sophomore year.

A tiger named Neil waits for food from Moorpark College student Serena Amaro at the school zoo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

It was, “Nothing that I ever thought about has ever happened.”

Rodriguez said the program has relationships with more than 100 zoos and other places that can tap internships.

Sophomores sato and carnicella aren’t sure what they’ll do when they graduate, but both are interested in careers involving the big cats.

“I really want to work with large carnivores, tigers, lions … you know, things that would kill me,” Carnichella said with a laugh.