Johnson Park Zoo Will Permanently Close, Middlesex County Decides

PISCATAWAY, NJ — Johnson Park Zoo will be permanently closing, the Middlesex County Board of Commissioners announced at their most recent meeting last Thursday, April 7.

This is the small but popular petting zoo located inside Johnson Park in Piscataway. It is officially called Johnson Park Animal Haven.

The petting zoo has been open for more than 70 years and has been popular for Central Jersey families for decades. But in the past two years it has fallen in a bad light: The zoo, along with the entirety of Johnson Park, was badly flooded when Tropical Storm Ida hit New Jersey on Sept. 2, 2021.

Photos of goats, horses and sheep standing knee-deep in murky brown Raritan River floodwater went viral on Facebook.

Other Middlesex County residents have said that the animals seem depressed in their cages and pens, and have been seen pacing back and forth.

In its place, Middlesex County plans to open a new "animal husbandry" facility next to East Jersey Old Town Village, which is a historical Colonial-era village in Piscataway.

"We will be establishing a new facility adjacent to East Jersey Old Town as part of a new historic animal husbandry program," said Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald Rios at their April 7 meeting, which you can watch here. "Horses, goats, roosters and a cow will be transferred to this new location."

He said East Jersey Old Town is preferable to Johnson Park because it is not in a flood plain.

Some of the animals that were at Johnson Park Zoo have already been moved to the two other petting zoos run by Middlesex County: Thompson Park in Monroe Township and Merrill Park in Woodbridge.

"We completed those transfers in February and all animals have adjusted well to their new homes," said Rios.

Last week, four alpaca from Johnson Park were transferred to a Montgomery Twp. farm. Middlesex County is still looking to find new homes for Johnson Park's white-tailed deer and fallow deer, plus a red-tailed fox, a miniature horse, pythons, iguanas, rabbits, roosters and goats.

After the outcry — and the September flooding — Middlesex County Commissioners said in mid-October they would be closing Johnson Park zoo. But then in December, the county changed course, after Commissioner Rios said he personally received dozens of phone calls and emails begging him to keep the zoo open.

"There were people advocating that they want to have animals still in Johnson Park," said Rios at the time, adding that Johnson Park Zoo has brought joy to so many Central Jersey families through the years.

The county hired a consultant to determine the best thing to do about Johnson Park and the firm said the best thing to do is close it, because the zoo is located in a flood plain.

No animals died in the Sept. 2021 floods in Johnson Park, but one pig did die in flooding in Merrill Park Zoo in Woodbridge

No animals died during the Ida-flooding at Johnson Park, said a Middlesex County spokeswoman, despite social media rumors to the contrary.

But one pig did drown in Ida floodwaters in September at nearby Merrill Park Animal Haven in Iselin.

That happened when the park experienced sudden flash flooding from the south branch of the Rahway River.

Park staff and two people passing by noticed the flood waters were rising rapidly and had to rush in and free the animals trapped in their pens.

"Unfortunately, upon entering the pig enclosure, it was discovered that one pig had passed away," said the county spokeswoman. "All other animals were successfully rescued."