Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens

Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens, also known as Pearl Coast Zoo, or simply Broome Zoo, was a 64-acre (26 ha) zoo founded by Lord Alistair McAlpine in the Cable Beach suburb of Broome, Western Australia. First opened in 1984, by 1989 the zoo had more than doubled in size. The zoo was one of a number of developments of McAlpine's in the town credited with transforming Broome from a "derelict" place into "an international tourist destination". The zoo closed in the early 1990s due to falling visitor numbers, and the animals were sold.

Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens
The entrance to the zoo in 1989
17.9329°S 122.2193°E / -17.9329; 122.2193
Date opened	12 August 1984
Date closed	early 1990s
Location	Sanctuary Road, Broome, Western Australia
Land area	1984: 25 acres (10 ha) 1989: 64 acres (26 ha)
Annual visitors	upwards of 35,000 visitors a year (in 1989)

The West Australian described the zoo as "a lush, tropical oasis ... filled with weird and wonderful exotic animals and a cacophony of bright, colourful birds".

History

Background

McAlpine, a "quixotic" and "eccentric" wealthy English aristocrat, first visited Perth in 1960 on the maiden voyage of the SS Oriana. He pursued some property developments in the city, including the construction of the Parmelia Hotel. McAlpine visited Broome for the first time in 1979, on the advice of his Perth lawyer, John Adams, who suggested they fly there together in McAlpine's private plane as he was at that point searching for a location to showcase his collection of heritage mining equipment.

McAlpine was taken by the town, although he described it as derelict. According to a 2018 interview with Sue Thom (guest relations manager at McAlpine's Cable Beach Club Resort since its opening in 1988), upon arriving in Broome, McAlpine went to look at sea shells and later rendezvoused with the rest of his party at the Roebuck Bay Hotel for lunch. Midway through the meal, he announced that he had already bought his first property in the town, reputedly having signed the deal on a beer coaster at the Roey pub.

Broome development

From this initial first trip, McAlpine enthusiastically began purchasing large landholdings in the area (at one point owning more than 20 properties), and undertaking several development projects. McAlpine was familiar with property development since his time in Perth in the mid-1960s.

In 1982, McAlpine purchased a home for himself in Broome (still standing as of November 2024, and known as 'McAlpine House') from a family named Kennedy. This was to become his residence in Broome for more than a decade, and where he would plant and keep an extensive tropical garden with aviaries housing exotic birds, including his prized Eclectus parrots. By 1984, the house was described by Broome News as "one of the towns' showcase residential homes" with grounds "...packed with exotic plants and wildlife from all over the world". It was from this context that McAlpine's idea for a wildlife attraction in Broome originated, eventually resulting in the opening of the 'Pearl Coast Wildlife Park' in 1984, later to be renamed as the Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens.

A plane descending over Sun Picture Gardens towards Broome International Airport, 2018

At the time of the zoos construction, Broome was still a very isolated outpost with "hardly any shipping, the last piece of road between Halls Creek and Broome was still dirt track, (and) freezer trucks had just started to come through", according to Thom. In this unlikely location, McAlpine chose to build "a zoo filled with endangered and exotic animals", confident that it would attract tourists.

Conscious that potential visitors to Broome would have limited accommodation options, McAlpine also purchased land at Cable Beach where he oversaw the establishment of the town's first luxury accommodation, the 600-bed Cable Beach Club Resort, opened in 1988 to coincide with the celebrations for Australia's bicentennial.

What is now the Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa was at that point "just a caravan park and paddock" on the headland, according to Thom. McAlpine spent AUD $55 million (at 1987 prices) developing the resort, hoping to develop Broome as a tourist destination for visitors from Australia as well as overseas. McAlpine's low-rise, largely timber resort was the antithesis to what other developers such as Christopher Skase were building on the east coast in places such as Port Douglas, Cairns and the Gold Coast.

According to the Australian Financial Review, many of Broome's present heritage buildings "owe their current existence and reinvention (as cafes, restaurants, art galleries) to McAlpine's wallet and passions" at this time. Some buildings, such as the microbrewery and restaurant Matso's Broome Brewery, "were physically transported from their original locations when it would have been far cheaper to build replicas". McAlpine also helped to preserve the Sun Picture Gardens.

Zoological gardens

McAlpine's development of the Pearl Coast Zoo reflected his passion for gardens and animals, and in his mind it acted as a sanctuary for the rare species he brought there which would otherwise have been at harm from industrial development, hunting or civil war.

One of a pair of cheetahs on display at the zoo in 1989

Sunday, 12 August 1984 witnessed the official opening of McAlpine's 'Pearl Coast Wildlife Park', later to be rebranded as the 'Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens'. The September-October 1984 edition of Broome News (at that point the town's only newspaper) reported on the opening thus:

"The new Pearl Coast Wildlife Park... is a $350,000 donation to the Broome community and the tourist industry of the north, according to Mr. Dowding. Mr. Dowding opened the park on behalf of the Premier (of Western Australia), and said that Lord McAlpine, who financed the venture, had made a unique philanthropic gesture to the people of Broome. "Lord McAlpine has already spent a fortune developing the project and by the time it is finished the investment will be over $1m." Mr. Dowding said. "I cannot remember anyone previously making a financial commitment like this in Broome with no thought of profit or return on their investment"

McAlpine, then 42 years old, was at that point reputed to have been amongst the top six wealthiest people in the United Kingdom. By the time the Pearl Coast Wildlife Park was opened in 1984, McAlpine also was in possession of his own private zoo in London, but unlike his Broome park was not open to the public. He described his intentions for the future of the park to Peter W. Lewis of Broome News: "My motivation for establishing the Pearl Coast Wildlife Park was that I love animals, and many of the animals you have in the Kimberlies (sic) just could not survive in the United Kingdom... We have not finished (the park) yet. All the profits from the Park will be poured back into it. I hope to obtain crocodiles and other reptiles, so that it will become an education centre for both children and adults".

The zoo initially housed only kangaroos, camels and wallabies and covered a total of 25 acres (10 hectares). Full-page advertisements for the Wildlife Park were published in the Broome News at first, offering the visitor the chance to see kangaroos, wallabies, emus, water buffalo, camels, antelopes, swans, colourful parrots and "many other native birds", with a photo of "singer Dianne Hammond" feeding one of the parks fallow deer. The "latest arrivals" were advertised as "Banteng wild cattle from the feral population of the Cobourg Peninsula (in the Northern Territory) now classed as rare and endangered in the wild". The opening hours were listed as 09:00 to 16:00, Mon-Sun with an entrance fee of $3 for adults, and $1.50 for children (4-14 years). The address was listed as "Lullfitz Drive, off the Cable Beach Road near Cable Beach".

On 27 March 1985, the Kimberley Field Naturalist Society was established at the 'general office' of the Pearl Coast Wildlife Park by a group of 20 amateur naturalists from Broome, Derby, Kununurra and even as far away as Tasmania. Special thanks were extended to Ross Gardiner and Lord Alistair McAlpine for the provision of the meeting facilities, with the group aiming to assist in the conservation of the Kimberley's natural resources through their work.

By May 1985, the opening hours of the Wildlife Park had increased from 09:00 until 18:00, Monday to Sunday, and by June 1985 had reduced an hour from 09:00 until 17:00. A "Special Feature" consisting of "Native and Feral Fauna of the Kimberley Region" was advertised at the park.

In the July 1985 edition of Broome News, Lester Knight, an RSPCA inspector, noted the fast-growing hobby of aviculture which was evident in Broome, "mostly likely on account of the wonderful display of exotic and native birds which are to be seen at the Pearl Coast Wildlife Park and other permitted collections in the area".

From the late 1980s, "a steady stream of animals were trucked and flown to Broome", according to The West Australian, including oryx, addax, sitatunga and zebra. Within five years of opening, the zoo was home to Australia's "best collection of Australian parrots and African exotics". In 1989, the zoo's 280 aviaries contained more than 80 varieties of birds, including the rare palm cockatoo, South American macaws and eclectus parrots. McAlpine invested millions of Australian dollars into a bird breeding program, which eventually supplied zoos all over the world with rare birds.

In early 1989, McAlpine purchased two lots of land for a total of $110,000. In late 1991, he bought a further lot for $620,000 after a revaluation of the area increased the price. By this stage, the zoo had more than doubled in size from its original acreage, as the State Register of Heritage Places noted:

"The zoo featured natural enclosures covered approximately 60 hectares (sic - acres?) and a large wetland was the centre piece of the grounds. Movement around the grounds was largely on walkways approximately 2 meters above the ground enabling visitors to view into the enclosures. The focus of the collection was African species, particularly antelope as the climate was similar to the African environment but without endemic diseases. Native parrots were also a speciality of the collection with three large aviaries for a diverse and wide ranging collection of rare birds. The museum had a successful breeding program in several species. Despite some initial opposition from locals and some environmentalists the zoo was initially a success. However, a number of factors, including economic recession and the pilot strike in 1989, lead to the demise of McAlpine's Broome assets and the zoo closed c1991."

Water buffalo and her calf at the zoo in 1989

According to former staff, Lord McAlpine would frequently visit the zoo himself, "doling out jobs as he strolled around the thatched roof enclosures to check on the animals". In a November 1990 article in New Idea magazine, it was revealed that 48-year-old McAlpine had recently dropped into Broome unannounced and in disguise to "to look over his zoo... wearing scruffy jeans, shirt and old felt hat"... looking "anything but one of the richest men in Europe". The magazine noted that travelling and living incognito had become somewhat of an "irritating fact of life for Lord McAlpine" owing to the fact that he had recently been placed on an IRA hitlist. "A survivor of the Brighton hotel bombing in 1984, he is a prime IRA target", the magazine recounted. McAlpine's West Green House in Hampshire had also recently been bombed by the group in June 1990, a building in which he had been living just a few weeks prior, and where the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had previously been a guest. Delivering a press meeting at his "$50 million Cable Beach Club", Lord McAlpine quipped "I often remind the staff that if they see a rather scruffy person in jeans wandering about the place not to throw him out. It could be me!"

The 1990 article also confirmed that Diana and Congo, pygmy hippopotami borrowed from Melbourne Zoo had produced a male baby, which zoo keeper Sheila McCoey was pictured holding. Other breeding events were relayed to locals via a notice board: "Every day a 'match and hatch' despatch is posted on a noticeboard outside reception, giving details of breeding successes at the zoo."

Walk-Through Aviary

In February 1992, McAlpine announced plans to construct a new Walk-Through Aviary onsite, in order "to house the ever increasing numbers of birds and to allow for diversification in species". The planned aviary "would be larger than the one in Singapore and might well be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere", McAlpine added. The planned aviary was to measure 240 metres long by 96 metres wide by 7 metres high, and would be built over 2.3 hectares, housing species from Northern Australia. As reported in the North West Telegraph: Kimberley Edition at the time:

"The public will be able to walk through and view at close quarters birds that it would take many days to see while walking through the Kimberley bush". He (McAlpine) said the zoo has had many successes in breeding rare and endangered species of birds and has been credited with two first breedings in captivity. "Two years ago we were given a Collecting Permit from CALM to collect 12 White-quilled rock pigeons," he said. "We have since been very successful in breeding this species and many of the birds will be made available to other zoos."

Zoo director Graham Taylor added that the aviary would not be as high as existing ones onsite already, but would be built to blend into the bush. "There will be feeding stations at several points inside the aviary and native bird species in the area will be encouraged to come and go freely". Taylor added that the zoo already had most of the materials on hand that would be needed to construct the aviary, and the only costs that would be incurred would be for engineering advice and labour for construction.

Financial difficulties

In March 1992, Taylor acknowledged that the zoo was struggling financially, and identified a number of factors that were contributing to this, including the ongoing recession as well as cheap airfares to the eastern states of Australia which were drawing people there instead. There had been at least a 15% drop in tourism to the zoo in 1992 as opposed to 1991, and Taylor advised that this had been a "major factor" in the decision to relocate the larger animals, which had been "a sad move but an economic necessity";

"...This in turn has meant that we now employ only nine people as compared with 39 last year. The government really needs to inject some funding into a major advertising campaign tourism promotion of the area, and Ansett needs to help out with better airfare deals to the north". Mr Taylor said although the zoo was never intended to make money, neither could it afford to continue making a loss. And since Lord McAlpine did not want to close it down, some sort of action needed to be taken.

Zoo director Graham Taylor confirmed that regardless of other proposed developments on the site of the zoo, the integrity of the zoological gardens would remain intact. "Our brief is to increase the numbers of birds, reptiles and primates at the park," he said. "The bird collection already numbers 1,400 which is larger than any other bird display in zoos throughout Australia. By the end of 1994, we hope to have increased bird numbers to around 2,500".

Closure of zoo

The 1989 Australian pilots' dispute, which lasted six months (and severely disrupted domestic travel and tourism within Australia) was largely blamed as being a contributing factor in the zoos demise.

UK-based newspaper The Telegraph noted that McAlpine's Australian tourism venture as a whole, in which he had invested £250 million, collapsed as a result, costing him much of his personal fortune. He was also forced to sell his Cable Beach Club Resort in the mid-1990s.

Many of the animals were sold on to private buyers. Australian businessman Warren Anderson bought 170 exotic animals for $1.5 million (according to an article published in the Sunday Territorian in September 1991). Anderson, who owned the large Tipperary Station in the Northern Territory at the time, was assembling a collection of exotic Asian and African animals. His purchase put him in possession of "the largest privately owned mammal collection outside of Australia's major cities". Some of the animals later escaped.

Legacy

An estimated AUD $500 million was spent by McAlpine on his Broome enterprises, including the purchasing of thousands of trees and plants in an attempt to "turn the harsh town into the tropical paradise he'd envisaged".

McAlpine's last visit to Broome occurred in 2012 on which occasion a bronze sculpture by artist Linda Klarfeld was unveiled in his honour at Cable Beach headland. The sculpture depicts McAlpine in a 'bush hat' with a cockatoo on his shoulder.

Baron McAlpine died in January 2014, having lost much of his inherited fortune. Following his death, ABC News noted that through his actions, he had been credited with "reinvigorating the once-sleepy [..] pearling town of Broome".

Subsequent distribution of land

The North West Telegraph: Kimberley Edition of 25 March 1992 reported that the Shire of Broome had recently approved an amendment providing for the rezoning of land near the Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens. Lord McAlpine had applied to have the wildlife park site rezoned to Special Site - Residential, Holiday Accommodation, Staff Housing, Tourist Development and Ancillary uses. Of the three lots in question, the first two had been purchased in early 1989 for a total of $110,000. The third lot, according to the North West Telegraph, had been purchased after the area had been amended and after a revaluation of the area, costing Lord McAlpine $620,000 in late 1991.

In the same article, a spokesperson for the Department of Land Administration said departmental officers had been "concerned at the speed with which land was being taken up by Lord McAlpine", and had "counselled caution and a need to look at the overall planning" for what they described as prime beach-front land. The department also expressed concerns that "although the first lot was leased subject to public competition, the same was not true of subsequent lots which were offered to him as extensions of the existing Wildlife Park in mid-1987".

Remains of the zoo

Parts of the zoo were demolished in 1991, and the majority of the property was "sold and subsequently subdivided for residential development". The grounds of the former zoo are therefore no longer visible, however "some of the buildings [..] originally used for the zoo have been retained and [..] repurposed for other commercial functions including the Willie Creek Pearls showroom", according to the State Register of Heritage Places.

Willie Creek Pearls showroom

In 1994, the Banfield family purchased the former Pearl Coast Zoo buildings on Challenor Drive (opposite the Cable Beach Club Resort), and converted them into an administrative headquarters for their Willie Creek Pearl Farm business interests. The following year, 1995, the Banfield family opened their Cable Beach showroom at the Old Zoo site they had acquired the year before.

The Old Zoo Cafe

On 15 October 1997, the Broome Advertiser reported that the past three months had seen the entrance and administration buildings of the old Broome zoo having been "transformed and renovated" by Robert Banfield and Don Bacon, and that they would "soon be home to a new cafe". The Advertiser explained how the Banfield's planned to feature zoo memorabilia on the walls of the cafe, such as photographs, posters, artifacts and signs, with a request also being sent out for "anyone who may have any memorabilia from the old zoo, who would like to donate it to add to the character of the place" to do so.

Robert Banfield explained how the old zoo buildings had become dilapidated and falling down, and so the decision had been made to turn it into a cafe. "The only original parts of the building are the slab and the roof and we have restored some of the windows", he said, adding "The actual food preparation area of the old zoo will be the food prep area of the cafe... We have tried to keep a bit of the history of the area by creating the Old Zoo Cafe". The cafe was still in existence as of November 2024.

Conservation

The site has been noted by the State Register of Heritage Places for holding historic value for "its association with the rapid development of the tourist industry in Broome during the 1980s", and social value for "the members of the Broome and wider community who visited, worked there, or were aware of its presence in the outskirts of the town".

On 27 June 2019, the site of the former zoo was given the status 'Adopted' by the Municipal Inventory of the Shire of Broome, with a 'Grading C' category, and the following appraisal: "A place (including a site with no built remains) of some cultural heritage significance to (the) Shire of Broome. No constraints. Recommend: Encourage retention of the place, or where there are ruins, archaeological findings or no built remains: Interpret the place."

On 21 January 2020, the site was allocated as 'Place number: 26354' by the State Register of Heritage Places.

References