An invitation into the magical, grueling, and virtually unknown world of exotic animal training Behind the imposing gate of the Exotic Animal Training Program at California’s Moorpark College lies a kingdom full of small mysteries, deep passions, and a camel that shoots hoops. Each year a select group of students descends on this teaching zoo to learn an improbable talent: how to communicate with animals. The only school of its kind, Moorpark pushes the limits of all the enrolled as they master hundreds of Latin species names and zoonotic diseases, all while hosing down cages at dawn and noting that Zulu the mandrill takes his morning juice in a paper cup— never plastic. The alumni of this elite program hold the most coveted positions at the world’s finest zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries.
