Edition: U.S. / Global

Hurt and Unwanted Find Home in a Zoo

Published: January 17, 1993

THE scene at the rustic zoo in the Pine Barrens on a Sunday afternoon might be acted out at any zoo across the nation -- parents holding the hands of wide-eyed children as they stand awestruck, gazing at monkeys, wildcats and an elephant.

But the Popcorn Park Zoo here is anything but typical. It is the end of the line for more than 300 animals that have been badly treated -- injured, neglected and abandoned -- by other zoos, circuses and individuals from all over the United States.

Established by the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey 15 years ago, it is one of the few zoos in the nation devoted to animals that are sick, handicapped, injured, elderly, unreleasable or abandoned and would not be able to survive on their own.

Everywhere visitors walk along the 10-acre grounds, they can see an animal that has its own harrowing history. The Small and the Large

The chickens and geese are discarded Easter presents. The two bears, Osa and Ursula, were rescued from a gas station in Maine, where they had been used to attract customers. Tina, the Bengal tiger, and a bear, a hyena and some monkeys were left without food and water after a circus van broke down on the New Jersey Turnpike.

Lacey, the lion, worked for a magician until Lacey became sick. A cougar, Cindy Lou, was a pet in Iowa and barely escaped being put to death when the owner died.

But the star attraction is Sonny, an 8,000-pound African elephant.

It seems that Sonny was knocking down a lot of walls at his zoo in Clovis, N.M. "He was proving to be real ornery," said John Bergmann, the Popcorn Park Zoo director, who has been working at the zoo since it opened. Mr. Bergmann and his crew brought Sonny to New Jersey two years ago.

"Once in a while he gets out of hand here," Mr. Bergmann said, "but we built a real strong indoor cage for him when he gets tired of running around outside." Sonny's large barn has bars as thick as the girders on the George Washington Bridge.

Sonny wasn't wanted at other zoos, both because of his unsocial behavior and because he has a deep gash in his trunk. Caution With Big Cats

That Mr. Bergmann, a husky 35-year-old, has the affection and respect of the animals is evident when he enters the cages, including those of such big cats as cougars and jaguars.

But he won't get in with the three lions and the Bengal tiger. "The lions and the tiger are really friendly," he said, "but they don't know their own strength, and they could kill you just by playing." They weigh more than 500 pounds each.

One of the most unusual stories at the zoo concerns the relationship between a rhesus monkey and a kitten. It started several months ago when a gray calico cat, later named Cricket, was born as one of a litter of five in the hay outside the elephant barn. When Cricket was two days old, she wandered into the cage of the monkey, Judy.

"I guess you would call it love at first sight," Mr. Bergmann said, "because Judy took right up and began to take care of Cricket." Before Cricket's arrival, he added, Judy had been despondent; she did not get along with the other monkeys.

Now, the pair spend their time in a 9-foot-by-8-foot cage, which has a small wooden table in the center and hay on the floor. Judy spends the day grooming Cricket. And when the kitten gets too rough playing, Judy chastises the youngster and pulls her by her ear, Mr. Bergmann said. A Crowd-Pleasing Goat

One of the crowd pleasers at the zoo is Marlboro, a goat who is always on the lookout for the popcorn that children feed the animals, and who will sometimes nudge visitors gently until he gets some.

Two and a half years ago, Marlboro was found bleeding and barely alive in the woods in Marlboro Township. The police said the goat was the victim of a sacrificial cult ritual. At the zoo, Marlboro required more than 100 stitches and months of convalesence.

The Popcorn Park Zoo is off exit 74 of the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County, about 90 miles from New York City. Right next to the zoo is one of the two branch offices of the Associated Humane Societies, which is based in Newark and has its other branch office in Tinton Falls.

The zoo has seven employees, who are assisted by dozens of volunteers.

Popcorn Park is open Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 P.M. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Admission is $2.50 for adults and $1.50 for children under 11.

Photos: The Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township is one of the few zoos devoted to sick, handicapped, injured, elderly, unreleasable or abandoned animals. The director, John Bergmann, stood near Sonny, an 8,000-pound African elephant whose trouble is attitude; Each animal has a story to tell at the Popcorn Park Zoo, founded by Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey. (Photographs by Sam D'Amico for The New York Times)