THE DAILY WIRE · NEW JERSEY · 2026-10-30
West Milford's Oldest Unsolved Headcount
A New Jersey publication has revived interest in Jungle Habitat, a drive-through safari park in West Milford that closed in 1976 and, according to persistent local legend, never fully accounted for every animal on its way out the door.
Per the feature, the abandoned park's grounds remain largely intact decades later, overtaken by forest, with longstanding rumors among area residents that descendants of some species released or left behind during the closure still live in the surrounding woods. This reporter treats these claims as folklore until proven otherwise, which is itself more rigor than most local legends receive.
Webster finds the premise professionally irresistible: a defunct wildlife park, an incomplete final headcount, and fifty years of hikers reporting things they can't quite explain. That is, by any newsroom's standard, an open case.
Seeking comment from a source with generational ties to the area, this reporter located Walter Higgins, a West Milford elk whose family has reportedly called the old park grounds home for as long as anyone can remember. His account of the park's closure differs considerably from the official record.
Jungle Habitat shut its gates nearly fifty years ago. Whether anyone, or anything, ever actually left is a question this reporter is content to leave unresolved. Spun and done.
“My people never left, we just got better at hiding from the tour buses that don't come anymore. Humans built a whole safari park, went bankrupt, and left the gate open — least they could've done was leave the snack machines stocked.” — Walter Higgins, West Milford elk
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