UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL : KIDS INTRODUCED TO CARE, FEEDING OF ZOO RESIDENTS.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

Thirteen-year-old Kristen Loupee learned about feeding, handling and training all sorts of animals during the Junior Safari camp at the Moorpark College zoo.

But it was a few moments between lessons, she said, that she'll remember most.

``You'd never think in your life you'd get a chance to pet a kangaroo or see a tiger walk by,'' Loupee said. ``I got to do both.''

Loupee was one of 20 youngsters who completed the weeklong program Friday. Camp counselors, recent graduates of the college Exotic Animal Training and Management Program, taught the junior zoologists such skills as how to hold a hedgehog and how to clean a pig pen.

``They actually got to do a lot more than we did in our first year,'' said counselor Tonya Feighan. ``They get a good overview of everything that goes on here. By the time they leave, they have a good sense of what it's really like handling these animals.''

Youngsters also participated in an animal show and helped teach tricks to a monkey from Madagascar. But not all the work is so exciting, said 12-year-old Derek Thain.

``I raked up the pig pooh,'' Thain said.

But Thain was able to pet the pigs while he cleaned their cage, which made it worthwhile. And getting close to the animals is what the camp is all about, Thain said.

``Going to the zoo, all you get to do is watch the animals,'' he said. ``Here, you get to feed them and handle them and learn about them.''

There are more than 150 animals at the facility, including a bobcat, fox, badger, horse, llama, wolf, coyote and a popular tiger named Taj.

On the last day of the program, students learned about a popular trend in zoo keeping called ``behavioral enrichment,'' a technique designed to give captive animals a sense of purpose and reward, said counselor Sarah Drain.

To demonstrate the idea, participants prepared a ``goody box'' for one of the monkeys. The campers stuffed a cereal box full of hay, eggs, straw, seeds, green beans and banana pieces.

``It's neat for the students because they get to see the primate open the box, forage through the hay and find the treats,'' Drain said.

Many of the students hope to repeat the exercise at future camps. Some students come back year after year as a first step toward a career in managing animals.

But Loupee, for one, isn't sure about all the careers related to the care of animals.

``I know I want to work with animals,'' she said. ``Except not as a vet because they have to put animals to sleep sometimes. I just couldn't do that.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Jennifer Gunn, left, and Daryl Strano, 12, both of Simi Valley, befriend a rabbit at Moorpark College. Zoo keepers had not picked a name.

(2--color) Junior Safari campers Steve Johnson, left, Chris Winter and Collin Kiedaisch pet Sonic the hedgehog at the Moorpark College zoo.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News