Gorillas and lions were NOT roaming West Orange, NJ, during storm

Adding to the flooding chaos and devastation in North Jersey was a widely circulating report on social media of dangerous wild animals roaming the streets.

One post showed what appeared to be a photo of an emergency text alert warning of escaped lions, bears and gorillas from the Turtle Back Zoo.

So many people fell for the hoax that Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo sent out his own tweet saying there was no such escape.

Officials from the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange also tweeted out that the social media rumors were false, and noted they do not even have gorillas at their zoo. "Staff stayed through the night to monitor (the situation.)," a zoo official said, "There was no loss of power and all of our animals and animal areas weathered the storm well and remain safe and secure within the facility."

Facebook has not removed the post, but has labeled it false.

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Filed Under: Essex County, Ida, turtle back zoo, West Orange

Categories: New Jersey News