For a Change, This Zoo Is a College Class

Moorpark College student Alison Powell wonders how she’ll ever be able to say goodbye to the love of her life.

She admits she’s fallen for a younger guy since arriving at the community college two years ago, but insists this is no ordinary schoolgirl crush. In these final weeks before graduation, she’s taken to bringing him roses every day--along with a head of romaine lettuce and a couple of pounds of yams, watermelon and corn on the cob.

“He really is a great guy,” says Powell, 25, cooing sweetly to a bright-eyed, silver-haired monkey named Rama who makes his home at the college’s nationally renowned teaching zoo. “It’s going to be very difficult to walk away.”

Lucky for her, there are plenty of primates in her future.

Powell is among seven students in the college’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program who have landed seasonal jobs at the San Diego Zoo.

In fact, Moorpark students took all the available slots for the zoo’s summer enrichment program--an unprecedented feat for a college program that has pumped out scores of keepers, trainers and wildlife educators for facilities all over the world.

The coup underscores the program’s growing stature as a top-flight training ground for future zookeepers.

“This may be the single biggest hire we’ve had from that program,” said Jane Gilbert, animal training manager at the San Diego Zoo.

“The training the Moorpark students have had in doing public presentations and providing exotic animal care frequently make them the most qualified hires we can get,” she added. “It’s a wonderful fit for us and gives them good experience.”

The entry-level positions often turn into bigger opportunities.

Two former Moorpark College students hired at the San Diego Zoo last summer now work there full time. At the Los Angeles Zoo, curator Michael Dee said several of his principal animal keepers are Moorpark College graduates.

“I think the program is regarded extremely well throughout the industry,” Dee said. “I can say I have been satisfied with every Moorpark student. They come with a work ethic, and that’s important. But they also come with a real sense of dedication, because going through the course up there is not the easiest thing in the world.”

Just ask the 87 students enrolled in the program, the only one of its kind in the country.

Hundreds apply each year to get into the teaching zoo, founded in 1974 by a former Moorpark College teacher who helped train dolphins for the Navy at Point Mugu.

Atop a wind-swept hillside overlooking the east Ventura County campus, students work as many as 70 hours a week feeding and caring for about 150 creatures, including a Bengal tiger named Taj, a Galapagos tortoise named Clarence and a pair of one-hump camels named Kaleb and Lulu.

It is essentially a full-time job. Students take a series of laboratory workshops on anatomy, wildlife biology and introductory veterinary medicine. They pull all-night shifts patrolling the grounds.

They clean cages, feed and exercise the animals and train them to do everything from sitting still for vaccinations to opening wide to swallow pills.

Hard Work Pays Off for Program Graduates

On weekends, the students host hourlong shows where the public gets to see the animals up close. And every year they stage a Spring Spectacular, an open house that draws thousands of visitors to the five-acre zoo and generates thousands of dollars for the program.

After two years, students earn certificates that open the doors to show business or animal park jobs. Those who fulfill general education requirements also earn associate degrees.

Out of this year’s 48-member graduating class, students have landed jobs at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo.

“If you can get through this program, it says something about you,” said Wendy Powers, 25, who grew up in Oceanside and is among the seven students headed to San Diego.

“When you first come here, you are here first thing in the morning and you spend a lot of your nights,” she continued. “It’s a lot like boot camp, but it’s worth it. It’s a passion, like some guys with their cars.”

Powers is like a lot of the San Diego-bound students who have enrolled in the program, having come to Moorpark with a bachelor’s degree in biology from a private college in Missouri.

Former San Fernando Valley resident Dani Cremona, 28, earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from UC Santa Barbara before she showed up at Moorpark. Virginia native Sherri Taul, 23, got her degree in interdisciplinary studies from Virginia Tech, where her emphasis was in biology and equine science.

Northern California native Kelli Snively, 24, got her bachelor’s in 1999 in animal science from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. But she had known years earlier, when she asked an animal handler at Universal Studios about the business, that she wanted to attend the Moorpark College program.

“I just knew I couldn’t spend the rest of my life sitting indoors somewhere,” she said.

College Receives 300 Applications

“I think it shows we’re dedicated to what we do and that we’re passionate about it,” she said of being chosen for the San Diego jobs. “I don’t think you can get a job in this industry unless you show it’s something you really, really want to do.”

The same holds true for getting into the competitive Moorpark program.

Typically, college officials sort through 300 applications a year. In addition to solid academic credentials, officials are looking for applicants who have a wide range of experience working with animals.

There were 200 qualified applicants for the class entering this fall. School officials resorted to a lottery system to whittle that number down to 65.

The competition is so tough, in fact, that 23-year-old Jessica Forrest didn’t get in the first time she applied. A graduate of University High School in San Diego, Forrest said she worked several years at Sea World and the local Humane Society to build up her resume and get a foot in the door at the Moorpark program.

Now she’s returning to San Diego, where she hopes to parlay her summer job into a full-time position as a wildlife educator.

“I can’t believe I’m working at the world-famous San Diego Zoo, a place I dreamed about as a kid,” she said.

Of the Moorpark program, she said: “This place instills a really good work ethic. They fully prepare you to work outside. They make sure you are ready.”

The students got their first taste of their new jobs earlier this month, during a spring break orientation. Many are scrambling now to find housing in San Diego’s tight rental market, while finishing up final duties at the program before their May 19 graduation.

The schedule is tight, but it’s a welcome load for Moorpark resident Kelly Falkner, who almost didn’t get to go to San Diego. Initially, she wasn’t picked for the zoo’s summer enrichment program. But when one of her classmates took another job instead, the 23-year-old Washington native got the call.

Now she spends as much time as she can preparing to part with a lioness named Savannah, a 300-pound, honey-colored cat who seems to know things are about to change.

Students Grow Attached to Animals

“Now that it’s getting to the point where I’m going to leave, I’m really treasuring every moment,” said Falkner, as the big cat paced in her cage and rubbed her forehead against the bars. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to both the people and the animals. It’s like a family.”

Or like the love of your life.

Alison Powell starts to cry when she thinks too much about leaving Bandit, the pint-sized common marmoset. Or a 22-year-old water buffalo named Robert. But it’s Rama, the ornery monkey, that tugs at her heartstrings the most.

His eyes are the color of dark roast coffee, and they light up whenever she comes near. She hands him long-stemmed roses, and he eats the petals like a kid nibbling at an ice cream cone. She feeds him a cocktail of fruits and vegetables, and he gently tugs on her arm when he wants more.

“It’s not just saying goodbye as far as leaving, but it’s knowing that these animals have a shorter life span than we do,” she said. “It’s hard, but the rewards outweigh the sorrows more than I can imagine. It’s part of what helps you grow as a person.”