Jungle Habitat, located in West Milford, New Jersey, was a Warner Brothers-owned theme park that opened in the summer of 1972, and closed in October 1976. By November 1972, the park had 500,000 paid visitors. The park contained well over 1,500 animals, a drive-through section and a walk-through section.
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The park featured a drive-through safari section, which allowed for wild animals to roam free and approach vehicles as they slowly drove through. Riders potentially could observe peacocks, baboons, camels, elephants, llamas, giraffes, and Siberian tigers in this section, either in their own cars or on board one of the available buses. Many of the animals would climb atop the cars, bringing them to a halt, and signs were posted along the route to warn visitors to keep their windows closed. Great Adventure in Jackson Township, New Jersey, approximately 100 miles (160 km) to the south, also had (and still has) a similar type of drive-through safari attraction.
The walk-through section was a small theme park which included a petting zoo, camel and elephant rides, snack bars, gift shop, reptile house, dolphin show, Bugs Bunny and Friends shows including live Warner Bros. Looney Tunes characters, and a small train station and ride-on train called Jungle Junction. The park did not have any amusement park rides, although there were plans to add them in the future.
Shortly after the park opened, an Israeli tourist named Abraham Levy driving through the safari in a taxi was attacked by two lions, bringing negative publicity to the park. In 1974, a woman was bitten by a baby elephant who had reached out of its enclosure with its trunk and grabbed the woman; she ultimately was awarded $200,000 for her injuries.[1]
The park was plagued by problems, including reports of dangerous animals escaping into West Milford.[2] Several of its animal residents had contracted tuberculosis and were euthanized.[3] In addition, the increase in summertime and weekend traffic on West Milford's roads created problems for local residents.
Still, the park was profitable for its first several years. However, business declined gradually as it failed to attract repeat business without changing its attractions or adding new ones. In 1975, Warner Brothers proposed a $20 million expansion project to the site. The project would include a large wooden roller coaster, a steel junior coaster, a carousel merry-go-round, log flume ride, about a dozen adult spinning rides, and a few kiddie rides. The township's residents were divided on whether or not to approve such a project. The potential for further traffic congestion was a major issue.
The park opened as usual during the summer of 1976, with rumors of a big expansion planned for the summer of 1977. The park's last weekend in operation was Halloween weekend, 1976. On November 2, 1976, township residents narrowly voted against the expansion. Once this proposal was voted down, Warner Brothers decided to shut the park down and sell the land. After the park closed, newspapers reported that several animal carcasses, including an elephant, had been left there to decay.[3] Competition from Great Adventure, combined with poor management and the park's inability to easily expand, may have contributed to the demise of Jungle Habitat.
For years after it closed, the site's deteriorated buildings remained, and rumors of animals still roaming the property attracted curiosity seekers. Accounts of such explorations were published in Weird NJ[4] magazine, and on its website.
The 800 acre (3.2 km²) Jungle Habitat property, containing 26 miles (42 km) of paved roads, was purchased by New Jersey for $1,450,000 in 1988. The property, adjacent to Norvin Green State Forest, is part of Long Pond Ironworks State Park and is administered by Ringwood State Park. In 2007, under the direction of Ringwood State Park, the Ramapo Valley Cycling Club (a chapter of the Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association, also known as JORBA) performed a massive cleanup of the park, with 70 volunteers contributing. Brush was cleared and two dumpsters of trash were removed. Today, under the management of Ringwood State Park, JORBA is building single-track trails designed for shared, non-motorized use (bicycle, equestrian and foot traffic only). Currently, there are five to six miles (10 km) of single-track trails on the land, with more being planned in 2008.
Negotiation is underway between West Milford and the State of New Jersey to lease the 10-acre (40,000 m2) macadam parking lot for recreational use. In recent years, the property been used to host West Milford township's Fourth of July celebrations (known as Thunder in the Highlands) under a special-use permit. In addition, a local bicycle shop also sponsors "Rumble in the Jungle," an annual mountain bike race. The area has become popular with dog walkers, mountain bikers, trail runners and equestrians.