A roaring good birthday: Ira the lion turns 10 at The Teaching Zoo
In a birthday fit for a king, Ira the lion turned 10 Saturday at The Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College.
He celebrated in style with a birthday bash that included a four-tiered ice cake topped with a chicken neck, a paper-mache piñata shaped like a lion, a femur bone and meat — lots of meat and, rumor has it, maybe a touch of catnip.
Onlookers celebrated with him as they do every year, taking pictures and watching in awe as the 400-pound cat enjoyed his day. Student trainers fed him and explained his role in a zoo that serves as a living classroom for the college’s exotic animal training and management program.
The zoo is open Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For information go to zoo.moorparkcollege.edu.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: A birthday fit for a lion: king of Moorpark College's zoo turns 10
