Reviews of America's Teaching Zoo (Zoo)

Alberta Ellis

This is a small but enjoyable zoo. The the staff was very knowledgeable and eager to teach about the animals and I really liked seeing how they reacted to the call from the staff, showing excitement to see them.

Simon Frost

My son and I were guests at his friend's fourth birthday party here recently. I really fun and educational place. I have never seen a Lion at such close quarters before. Awe inspiring. But, I could have lived without the hissing cockroaches ;)

sylvia cunliffe

Rare exotic animals are on display there. Shows featuring some of the animals are presented throughout the day. Guided tours are available. The staff is friendly. Free parking

Gail Hull

Moorpark College zookeeper program summer day camp my grandaughter goes for a wk every summer & loves it. She wants to attend their college curiculum when of age.

sandra carranza

Great place to bring the kids also to celebrate special events!!

jay g

Great staff! It was a great experience for the kids

Alex Espin

Fun time with my son

Jesse Austin

Very reasonable priced place for a young kids birthday party. Great to see animals and learn about them. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Jenia Kuksin

Excellent zoon. Small size, great animals! Excellent staff!

Creative Works by Camille

Had a wonderful time face painting for a beautiful birthday party! The staff was so friendly and helpful. It was fun to see students share the animals, great show.

paco paredes

(Translated by Google) They take good care of the animals by rescuing them (Original) Cuidan muy bien a los animales al rescatarlos

Orion French

This place is a gem! Not crowded, just outside of the San Fernando Valley, friendly staff and because of the fact that it is an educational facility training new zookeepers and animal specialists, the place lets you get much closer to the animals and get a much better hands-on tour than the LA Zoo which is just too crowded! Be warned, it's more expensive and all-cash, so a family of 4 is going to run you about $55 if you're taking the behind-the-scenes tour (which is TOTALLY worth it). It's very pretty as well, albeit Santa Barbara Zoo tops it for looks, but that's not a fair comparison honestly. Go here, you're helping fund the student program and seeing some amazing animals!

Alex Timen

Great show.

Marta Gonzalez

Excellent place to take the family. Loved the animals and their trainers!

Kathy Ayala

Great place to take kids. Would definitely do it again. Everyone so knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you EATM!!

Robert Yvon

Beautiful campus. Very nice people.

Jerilynn Upton

Cool little place. Perfect for smaller kids and just a nice little get away place.

Nick Silva

A great family outing need more outdoor fun for education and environmental needed

Cynthia Christensen

Awesome

Adrian Iler

Wow ! How would you like to be on a first name bases with a Raven or Monkey or even an Alligator ? You can have that here ! This is a teaching zoo where the student trainers walk around with their animals and share all about them. My children range 11 to 23, love the intimite experience and I have learned so much. There is a place for private parties, behind the scenes encounters, and even a small show. Their productions are not Hollowood slick and distance, much more home town where you feel you have a authentic encounter with animals, learning about their behaviors, personalies and place in the world. This is not a full day experience, more half day, located away from the noice of the big city. We have gone back repeatedly and even have a family membership.

Cameron O'Brien

An amazing group doing amazing things with amazing animals.

Connor Wertz

It's lit

Jenny Tartaglino

I went through the program at Moorpark and it was amazing. The staff does a great job staying on top of all the advances in the field of a animal care. It's a great way to learn; in the class room one moment then immediately applying the information. The students and faculty take great pride in keeping a clean environment; not only for the animals, but the people visiting too! Great fun for all ages. A lot of really cool events going on regularly so make sure to check in and see what's new!!

Eddie Barlow

Love this zoo do much. There are plenty of knowledgeable staff to answer questions about the animals and then enjoy the questions. There are not a ton of animals there but plenty enough for enjoyment. Kids love it and the time it takes to go through the area is perfect for children. They do have feeding g times and shows as well and the price is right.

Monica Bahena

Cute small zoo perfect for a quick trip to get the kids out

K. L Jeffrey

Pretty cool! The Galapagos Tortoise was awesome! Some of the animals/enclosures were a little rough around the edges, but the staff was nice and friendly and my kid enjoyed it all well enough.

Doug Li

They got a bald eagle, lion, tiger, hyena, alligator, and lots of money's and tortoises. One VERY large tortoise. The food trucks inside are terrific. The people working there were very knowledgeable and nice. There were tons of staff and students everywhere.

Eddie Saucedo

Very nice

Rafi Rafat

Awesome place for you to get up close and personal to some exotic animals. Great for the family

Nicole Lowe

Great for little ones

Matthew Gibson

We take our toddler here often. So easy to get to and just the right length of time to spend in a zoo. It's no San Diego zoo but you don't have to be here all day and fight traffic and pay $10 for a water. In and out with sanity and the animals are fairly close encounters. Also free to get in.

Susan Codella

Love!! Bring your kids... go yourself... be amazed. Guaranteed a good day at the zoo...

A J

Zoo itself is nice. But I paid for the behind the scenes tour and I was less than impressed. I basically just saw the animals from the other side of the cage (same view) and did not get to experience all of what was in their website description. Most of the facts we learned about the animals were about their digestive habits aka where and when they poop. Probably geared toward little kids more but it was not advertised as so. All in all lovely zoo but the extra money is not worth it.

Shawn Jenkins

An amazing collection of animals and a very knowledgeable student staff!

Sean Lemoine

Nice, intimate small zoo where they often have the animals come out for the people and interact. Friendly staff. Great for small kids!

Anthony De la Cruz

Great place for kids to learn

J Neuburger

My guide Shannon Noel was awesome

Nancy Ontiveros

We love this place so much

Amanda Graham

I was in this program

Soledad G

Small but fun

Dianna Shaw

Very cool place, very engaging staff. Small enough to be intimate, but big enough to tire the littles.

Mattie Tiger

Love this small zoo. Very small but lots of animals and very cheap. My family had fun.

Alex Dunkel

It's great little zoo, especially for families with small children. It's only open on weekends and run by students in Moorpark College's Exotic Animal Training Program (EATM). The students dedicate a lot of time to their animals, and the zoo is saving for a major renovation for its large cats and others. They offer memberships and animal sponsorships, and every day the students put on animal shows for their guests. The students are also excited to answer questions about their animals. The zoo also hosts birthday parties, summer camp, and on weekdays, trips for schools.

Carrie Bellanger

Awesome as per usual! We haven't been in a couple of years so it was great to see growth. We caught all the shows. And saw some new animals! Shout out to Little Joe the young turtle! Loved the "Harry Potter" spoof! All in all, lots of fun! Thanks again!

Mark Failla

At first, the old zoo was somewhat hard to find, but as some people helped us find our way, I realized it was so easy LOLL.take it and you just walk more ahead, and you'll finally reach it! There is more abandoned cages/buildings and its sort of hard to find the door to one of the buildings, but there is a flap on the other side near the gate, but be careful! ring napkins/tissues if you want to try to go inside the cages/building. A lot of graffiti, but I just went there for the pictures, so it was pretty nice!

Sergio A

Fairly large zoo for a community college. Only problem is not much selection of animals I thought would be there . But of course not enough land to expand

Angelica Jujana

Amazing summer camp. Every year this camp turns out to be the camp that my kids love the most. They learn about the animals, they get to interact with them, they have animals races and fun games. At the last day of the camp they get to present an animal in a show. Every morning they cannot wait to get there!!

Shane Swayney

I take my kids here about once a year. It's not a huge zoo, but you get a little closer to the animals and it's not overwhelming. Tigers, lions, monkeys, snakes, lizards...

Zachary Schimke

This zoo is a lot of fun and affordable. We went for the show that happens at 12 and 2 on the weekends and it was pretty solid compared to other kinds of zoo talks I've been to. Parking is free which is nice and there isn't too much walking needed to see everything which is good but also means that you have a pretty short walk to see everything. They were also doing face painting while we were there which was fun. Want to go again sometime to do the behind the scenes tour where you get to see some other animals and look at the feeding area. Fun and affordable but not something to spend the whole day at.

Sgt Rock52

An amazing hidden gem in the LA area...WOW WOW WOW.

Damon Tidwell

Quaint and intimate

Flann Schmidt

Pretty small zoo, but has a great reputation. They had some great activities for kids and plenty of wonderful exhibits. And a monitor lizard. Can't go wrong with a monitor lizard.

eswari krishnan

Good for kids,small but educational.

Jerell After Dark

Nice building, great view. Had a couple classes in here

Troy Worrell

Small zoo, but really nice. They have a great selection of animals to see and the shows are fun. The shows are put on by students, so a bit wacky, but still very fun and informative. Highly recommend.

Angela Stark

We had an awesome time!

HBB Beer

Small but informative teach zoo. They have an ocelot, what else needs to be said!?

Trevor Christensen

Neat experience for the family. Get to see tigers and Lions etc up close. Neat little teaching show they have and it's great for parties too!

Gustavo Rico

I loved it!! I had not been there in 10 years and it has a great variety of animals!!!

christa nahhas

Great learning zoo, easy to park and the students are very enthusiastic about their zoo.

Robin Franke

Great zoo, at a cost effective price point.

Ana Olvera

Went here on a field trip with my daughter and her class. I am not sure it is open to the public since it is part of Moorpark College. We had fun and enjoyed the animals and the presentation.

Jeremy Rule

Pretty cool place. They have monkeys, a lion, a hyena, and a lot of other animals. Face painting and even a little show. Very friendly students. It was a good time.

Sarah-Lee Mansker

Price is just right and you can learn about animals that have been rescued nearby. It's really cool!!

Sean Romero

Great staff, tons of lively animals (if it's not too hot out) and an awesome feeling of community

Tamsin Garcia

What a great place for kids to learn about animals. I love that it is the college students working with the animals and answering any questions.

Vanessa Espinosa

It was ok. The boo at the zoo really disappointed us though. They ran out of the prizes and my kids were upset.

Janet Q

Absolutely LOVE this zoo and the crew that work with that animals. The size of the zoo is small and yet had soooo much to see. A must see!

Sabrina England

A great experience!

Steven Keegan

They have lions and tigers! And a ugly hiena...I had no idea! Very cool. But poor beautiful creatures are locked up in small cages. Can't we put together a funding to get them bigger roaming cages. Follow up; got a nice response from the owner. Very pleases to hear the expansion efforts are in the process. And I have no doubts that the care is top notch for these beautiful creatures. Again so very cool the types of life you have there. I'm very impressed. I will certainly reach out to Mara as well as visit your GOFUNDME page. I hope others do the same! Thank you for your response.

Mmmarlene Gee

Beautiful and amazing

Amiram Markel

Small teaching zoo at Moorpark College staffed by college students who aspire to do work with animals. Very impressed by their enthusiasm. Keep up the good work!

Noah Godard

One of my all-time favorite places in Moorpark and Ventura County.

Herlitz Davis

Awesome.

Ixia Barasorda

Great way to spend a couple of hours locally learning about animals. The property is great. The entire place (feeding, taking care of the animals, the shows) is ran by the students of the school. Because ots a teaching zoo you get to get Michael oser to the animals and the staff is very engaging and knowledgeable and eager to answer your questions. Also, when you come here you're helping fund the student program and seeing some amazing animals! A must visit.

Victor Medrano

It was awesome! First time great experience. Great staff. Good amount of exotic animals to see. I'd recommend for family fun!

Brandi Michel

I went here thinking the animals would be local and cared for properly. Instead I saw staff that fumbled their words and didn’t really know about the animals and the worst part was that the lion was in a tiny cage, smaller than my bathroom. These animals should be roaming the Savannah and this zoo is putting them in inhumane cages for profit. It’s despicable. My daughter, age 5, asked why someone would do that to a lion. Even she could see how awful it was. When we asked a staff member, they showed us a super small “updated” spot the lion was moving into. It was the next thing up from despicable. Please encourage this place to release the lion to a place that can properly care for it and give it adequate space it deserves.

Robert Minoofar

Not too busy. Nice staff and great close animal encounters. We watched them feed a lion by hand from outside of the cage. That was pretty awesome.

Nancy Marks

Amazing teaching zoo. The students are throughout helping you know more about the animals and the program. Just delightful! Great gem in our own backyard!

Stephanie Nguyen

It's small but keeps the kids entertained. Great for a small break in the day.

John Tran

Moorpark college zoo. Not a huge but decent size for the community

Beth H.

Nice small zoo. The staff is very knowledgable and they enjoy answering tons of questions. Love zoo lights and all the birthday parties for the animals.

Ellis Godard

Moorpark gem. Continually surprised how many have never been, it heard of it. Go! :)

Roberta Peppler

It's the only one of its kind in America I believe. It's a hidden treasure in Moorpark, CA It's a part of Moorpark college. There are occasional camps fire children over the summer. Check this zoo out if you are in the area.

Rosie Serrano

Great place for a primary grade field trip.

Marilyn Chi

Love this zoo!!! My daughter took a week long summer camp here learning more about careers offered to animal lovers. She had a tour with the trainers and students there and learned a lot within the week. They are opened to the public during the weekend and have quite a few animals to see up close. Check oi the baboon and the tigers.

William Bowman

A great visit. The students were knowledgeable and helpful.

Uudam Tran

It is the place for the families to enjoy.

April Connelly Real Estate

My family and I had a great time at the zoo on Sunday. They were having a community appreciation day in which all entrance was free. We decided to pay for the behind the scenes guided tour as well and LOVED IT! The tour guides were not only friendly and helpful, but super inforative. All things considered, we had a great day at the Zoo and will be returning regularly.

Paul Spooner

The staff were all very friendly and helpful, eager to talk about the animals. Not quite enough shade, and lots of chain link. A very genuine experience.

Daniel Skidmore

Great time for small kids. Shows are relatively short and the Zoo can be explored easily in an afternoon.

Mindi Baum

Easy parking, and knowledgeable staff! Perfect size for the little ones.

Marcelo Orellana

Fantastic zoo for the when family to enjoy. Our little ones really enjoyed seeing some of the animals up close when they have them out for all to see. Very clean and well maintained

Chris Mellor

Wonderful place to introduce kids to animals. Great services for all kinds of animals.

Matt Williams

There was surprisingly more to see than I expected. It was a great place to have a little kids birthday.

JAZZ U

Mini Zoo. Kids had a blast

Robert Luce

Well taken care of exotic animals and others, clean facilities, nice and helpful staff, and a good walking Zoo.

Jason Ide

Closed today, it is only open on the weekends, 11-5 I think. Excited that my daughter may do a program here.

Julie Havar

Very friendly students, answered all my questions. Absolutely love it!

Brian Hand

I would give it six stars but the damn ocelot never comes out. Babou!!!