Leopard Once Escaped Zoo Near Where Middletown’s Evil Clown Now Wags His Finger

Did you know there used to be a zoo in Middletown and that a spotted leopard once escaped from it? Me neither.

Popular paranormal investigator and Middletown resident Scott Davis detailed this fascinating bit of forgotten New Jersey history in a recent social post.

Twin Brooks Avenue, located directly across the street from the legendary Evil Clown of Middletown, used to be home to the Twin Brooks Zoo. (You'll now recognize this as the spot where your mom spends her Kohl's cash.)

READ MORE: History of the Evil Clown of Middletown

The zoo was only opened a year when the exotic feline fled its confines. An adult male spotted leopard imported from Singapore got loose in August 1926, Davis tells us. Efforts to track down and capture the big cat were unsuccessful. The leopard covered a lot of ground, though, and was eventually found and put down in Ocean County.

Monkey Once Escaped Atlantic Highlands Zoo

The near-century-old spotted leopard escape isn't the only historic Monmouth County zoological episode trending on social media this week. Ghosts on the Coast's Greg Caggiano resurrected the 1948 tale of an Atlantic Highlands monkey escape.

Mount Mitchell Scenic Overlook once housed the Welcher Animal Research Center, also known as Welcher's zoo. A monkey broke out of the facility and traveled down the mountain and into downtown Atlantic Highlands.

The monkey made its home in a tree on Third Avenue and evaded zoo staff who tried to capture it.

READ MORE: Why Is There a John Lennon Mural on a Gas Station in Lincroft?

"Residents eventually took to liking the monkey, regarding him as a neighborhood mascot. One even offered to adopt him if he was not captured by winter," Ghosts on the Coast writes.

Love learning about interesting Monmouth County history? Scroll down to read about how Calico, also known as the Evil Clown of Middletown, came to be: