MOORPARK : Festival to Spotlight Animal Training

A baboon, sea lion and turkey vulture will be among the stars performing at the annual festival of Moorpark College’s department of exotic animal training this weekend.

The event, which has been expanded from one to two days this year, will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the college’s training zoo.

Two different shows, cast with some of the 150 exotic animals that live at the Moorpark College zoo, will be performed several times throughout the festival, said Lynne Doria, the department’s assistant director.

Called “Animals in Jeopardy” and “Where the Wild Things Were,” the shows will be about the importance of wildlife preservation, said education coordinator Susan Cox.

In addition to these shows, the festival will also feature college students demonstrating how they train llamas, parrots and other animals, Cox said. Guided tours of the zoo, whose inhabitants include snakes, eagles and wolves, will also be given.

The event is also a fund-raiser for the department. Tickets will cost $6 for adults, $4 for students and senior citizens and $2 for children. The cost for the tour alone, without the shows, will be $2 per person. The number for more information is 378-1441.