Pearl Coast Zoo

ZYBen

ZYBen

Well-Known Member
What ever happend to pearl coast zoo i remember reading about it in an avicultural magazine, apparantly they had Oryx, Pygmy Hippos, i am thinking they went to tippery, any info anyone has on it would be great, liek if they ever had hyenas i think thats where the Mysterios Monarto Hyena came form
 
Can you picture zebra, onyx and cheetah making themselves at home in Broome?

British tycoon Alistair McAlpine was fascinated by northern Australia and made his home in Broome in the 1980s. He was an inveterate collector with a passion for birds, and in the early 80’s he open a zoo near Cable Beach.

It grew to cover 150 acres, with an incredible array of animals like pygmy hippos, rare antelope, cheetah, and a collection of endangered birds to rival any in the world.

Lord McAlpine described the zoo as an ark. And at its peak, 35 thousand visitors wandered on boardwalks through the paddocks and exhibits.

Then in 1989 the pilots strike strangled the tourism industry and after a couple of tough years the Pearl Coast Zoo closed down.

I hope this helps
Courtesy of ABC.Net
I have no idea what became of the animals .
 
Thats right,the animals went to tippery in the NT, lord McAlpine had a real interest in Antelopes and Parrots, I seem to remember the birds were sold off around Australia to bird keepers, I knew someone who got some from there. As for the Hyena, I sure they never had it at the pearl coast zoo!!!!!!!. the only place who had them may of been Perth zoo.
 
No I never got up there, there was some tv shows that had showed it a few times, so you could at least see some of the animals.
 
the pearl coast zoo was quite successful in breeding palm cockatoos and south american conures before the import ban was lifted. they used to advertise in australian bird keeper magazines classifieds section.
appaerently all that remains of the zoo is the entrance building,now a cafe. and on the subject of hyeanas in research facilites i know there are hamydras baboons in a university facility in nsw so who knows what else is out there?
 
Yes, there should be a national; register taht all zoos, wildlife parks reasearch facilities have to fill out, and even private animal keepers could be in, they could update what animals they have each month, it would be like a local isis, and make there census's much easier
 
Umm whos the current minister for the Environment, i have many government connections, i really think it would be good
 
Thanks Kiang - a very interesting article.

What a shame the place closed.

I found a list of the ungulates that were there:-
Nyala
Addax
Blackbuck
Addra gazelle
Hog deer
Sitatunga
Sable antelope
Gemsbok
Greater kudu
Eland
Nilgai
Red lechwe
Waterbuck
Chital deer
Angolan springbok
Forest (Congo) buffalo
Water buffalo
Grevy's zebra
Pygmy hippo
Scimitar horned oryx

Most of those are no longer in the region, or are on the way out. We'd love to have them back!
How Lord McAlpine managed to import them in the 1980's is amazing. It would have taken a lot of money and a lot of political clout.
 
McAlpine had a deal with Orana Park because NZ was allowed to import ungulates from other countries (such as the USA and UK) whereas Australia was only allowed to import from NZ. So McAlpine paid for a lot of off-display holding areas (and/or maybe quarantine areas, I'm not sure) at Orana for that purpose; Orana benefited by being able to keep some of the animals imported. However I don't know any of the specific details, or which species went through (although I'm pretty sure that's when Orana got their springbok).


I remember seeing the zoo featured on an Australian travel show back in the 80s. I remember the palm cockatoos and macaws being shown, and something being stated about him having the largest collection of exotic birds in the country or something along those lines.
 
Extracts from the Marwell zoo annual reports from 1987 and 1988, shed a little light on the origins of some of the hoofstock that were imported from the UK in these 2 years.

1987,

2.5 - scimitar horned oryx
1.2 - gemsbok
1.1 - greater kudu
1.3 - nilgai
1.1 - Congo buffalo

all animals from the Marwell collection.

1988,

MARWELL

1.0 - greater kudu
2.3 - sitatunga
0.2 - gemsbok
1.0 - llama
2.2 - nyala
2.0 - Grevy's zebra
1.1 - Congo buffalo
0.4 - Przewalski's horse

KNOWSLEY SAFARI PARK

0.1 - eland

EDINBURGH ZOO

0.2 - red lechwe

PAIGNTON ZOO

1.1 - red lechwe

WHIPSNADE PARK

2.0 - Congo buffalo
1.1 - Przewalski's horse

MIDWAY MANOR

0.4 - Grevy's zebra
0.3 - Przewalski's horse
1.1 - addax

Noted in the annual report as one of the largest consignments of wild animals to leave the UK.
 
so McAlpine was actually importing directly from the UK to Australia? That's pretty amazing. I wonder if, in that case, the Orana deal proved unnecessary and was never followed through with once the holding areas were completed?
 
Footage from Pearl Coast Zoo think in late 1991 with keeper Graham Goldsmith, can hear mention of a 'station in the NT' too in conversation (Tipperary o.c).

*Pygmy hippos: Diana 0.1 and one of her babies, think Fluffy 0.1 (paternal grand-dam of Lololi 0.1 at Taronga) if is late 1991 based on what Graham Goldsmith says about Cheetah's ages can be heard, if not then Kumbe 1.0 (b1990).
*two Brazilan tapirs.
*two of its three (2.1) Cheetahs (including 1.0 Washa if heard the one called out to right).
*Black-necked storks.
*Greater kudu 1.0.
*Grevy's zebra.
*Indian antelope - juvenile 0.1.
*Scimitar-horned oryxes.

(Says at end some footage was at Monarto, it all seemed like Pearl Coast Zoo to me. Unless the footage of juvenile 1.0 Indian antelope and Scimitar oryxes was taken at Monarto?).

 
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steveroberts said:
Footage from Pearl Coast Zoo think in 1991 with keeper Graham Goldsmith

Pygmy hippos (Diana and one of her babies very very cute, either 1.0 Kumbe or 0.1 Fluffy)
Brazilan tapirs
Cheetahs
Black-necked storks
Greater kudu
Grevy's zebra
Indian antelope (juvenile female)
Scimitar-horned oryx

(says some footage was at Monarto, it all seemed like Pearl Coast Zoo to me)

Click to expand...
What a wonderful collection they had!
 
steveroberts said:
Footage from Pearl Coast Zoo think in late 1991 with keeper Graham Goldsmith

Pygmy hippos (Diana and one of her babies very very cute, think Fluffy 0.1 if is late 1991 based on what Graham Goldsmith says about Cheetah's ages can be heard, if not then Kumbe 1.0 b1990)
Brazilan tapirs
two of its three Cheetahs (including 1.0 Washa if heard the one called out to right)
Black-necked storks
Greater kudu
Grevy's zebra
Indian antelope (juvenile female)
Scimitar-horned oryx

(says some footage was at Monarto, it all seemed like Pearl Coast Zoo to me. Unless the juvenile 1.0 Indian antelope and Scimitar oryx was taken at Monarto?)

Click to expand...

Really interesting video @steveroberts, thanks for sharing.

It was interesting to hear the comment regarding Cheetah being “the hardest of all the big cats to breed.”

Three decades on and that statement mostly holds true (ignoring the fact they’re not part of the Panthera genus); despite some of the mysteries around their reproductive idiosyncrasies being unraveled (mate choice; distance from apex predators and space being key).
 
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