W. Brisby; Founded Wild Animal Care Curriculum

William L. Brisby, biology teacher, zoologist and animal trainer who started Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program, the nation’s first scholastic curriculum in both those disciplines, has died. He was 76.

Brisby died Monday in Crescent City, Calif., of cancer and Parkinson’s disease, said his daughter, Kathy Brisby, of Fillmore.

In recent years, Brisby had helped run a camp called Cycon near Springville, Calif., for underprivileged children, his daughter said.

Born in Compton, Brisby studied at UCLA and USC, among other universities, and began his career as a biology teacher at Fillmore Union High School. In recognition of his work in bringing Nobel laureates to speak at his school, planning innovative field trips and organizing a school museum, the National Assn. of Biology Teachers named him outstanding biology teacher in California in 1965.

But Brisby earned far greater recognition a decade later when he was teaching marine biology at Moorpark College and started his unique curriculum. At one time, the Ventura County facility had more than 500 animals of about 140 species.

More than 1,000 applicants annually sought the 60 slots accepted by Brisby and his colleagues for rigorous training and hands-on care of the animals.

A few years after the program’s inception in 1974, Brisby turned the site into the state’s fifth-largest zoo, open to the public, and started an animal therapy program for children. Students also demonstrated their expertise in animal training by staging occasional circuses.

Brisby himself was a well-known animal trainer. He helped train dolphins for the Navy at Point Mugu and trained various animals for motion pictures and television programs including the early 1980s series, “Those Amazing Animals.”

Sought internationally as a consultant for zoos and museums, Brisby in 1973 was elected president of the state-operated California Museum of Sciences in Los Angeles.

In addition to his daughter, Brisby is survived by two sons, Lee of Eureka and Tim of Crescent City, and a stepdaughter, Megan.

Kathy Brisby said a celebration of her father’s life will be held Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building, 511 2nd St., in Fillmore.