The Great Brooklyn Elephant Hunt

In late April 1979, New York City's Health Department received several reports of an elephant seen wandering through Brooklyn. Calls to local zoos, circuses and animal parks didn't turn up any reports of a missing elephant. Nevertheless, officials took off in a Toyota to conduct a door-to-door search throughout Brooklyn for the pachyderm. The Health Department director said, "We have reason to believe the animal is small, but we're talking to the informants to get more information."

Several days of searching only uncovered a few illegal cockfights. So eventually the search for the Brooklyn elephant was called off. Health officials remained unswayed, however, in their belief that the elephant was out there, somewhere. [Star News - May 3, 1979]