Popcorn Park Zoo Gets Financial Help from Local Businesses

Evolution of Popcorn Park Zoo

Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey, N.J., isn’t your average Humane Society animal shelter. The facility opened in 1977 as “a refuge for wildlife that were sick, elderly, abandoned, abused or injured,” according to the Popcorn Park Zoo web site. Since then, the facility has evolved.

APP.com explains how the shelter and sanctuary came to house everyone from jungle animals to stray cats:

First, there were those picked up on animal control jobs that couldn’t be returned to the wild. Then came calls from people looking for a safe place to surrender exotic pets and farm animals, said Bergmann. The staff didn’t want to turn them away.

Now, the facility’s Popcorn Park Zoo is home to 200 animals, including wildlife, farm animals and exotics such as tigers, emus, primates and more, and the shelter houses around 200 dogs and cats.

Mouths to feed

Feeding and providing veterinary care for that many animals is not cheap, and the nonprofit shelter doesn’t have payday cash flowing in — it doesn’t get any government assistance.

Luckily, surrounding businesses are willing to pitch in with everything from grooming services to fresh produce.

Helping hands

APP.com gives some examples of the types of help businesses in the Popcorn Park Zoo community in Ocean County have contributed:

Garden State Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls once offered the use of its CAT scan to do diagnostic testing on tiger that was having seizures, Bergmann said.

And when the zoo’s beloved elephant, Sunny, died, Layton’s Funeral Home in Forked River donated a memorial service, so the pachyderm’s friends could all wish him farewell.

Bob Porcellini Wholesale Produce, a second-generation delivery business based in Ocean County, trucks in fresh food to the zoo.

Visiting Popcorn Park Zoo

Though the Popcorn Park Zoo is selective about which animals visitors are allowed to feed, animal lovers can buy popcorn to feed some birds and farm animals.

The main draw is the chance to see a diverse array of animals, living on seven acres of animal habitat. Here’s a partial list from AHSCares.com of animals living at Popcorn Park Zoo:

• geese
  African lions
• tigers
• mountain lions
• a camel
• emus
• rheas
• muntjacs
• Australian wallabies
• many types of monkeys
• white-tailed deer
• fallow deer
• bobcats
• an American black bear
• a raccoon
• horses
• steer
• sheep
• pigs
• goats
• reptiles
• tortoises
• numerous species of birds

If you ask me, visiting Popcorn Park Zoo sounds well worth the $5 entrance fee for adults and $4 for children. Kids under 3 even get in free.

Showing the money

Visiting Popcorn Park Zoo helps the sanctuary fund caring for animals that otherwise would probably not survive. Popcorn Park Zoo has one more pitch to entice visitors:

What makes Popcorn Park so special is that each animal was rescued from suffering, exploitation and/or death – each has its own unique story to tell. You will learn these stories as you walk through the Zoo.