This establishment as far as records show began in 1883 in an established Pleasure Gardens .. The Pleasure Gardens had begun between 1875 and 1877 .... There was no mention that I can find that animals were here until in April 1883 Aviaries and Monkey Houses were a major attraction , In June 1883 Seals arrived , In July 1883 a Parrot Aviary was added .... August 1883 saw the arrival of Jumbo ii ... it was also reported that this Elephant was only on loan for 2 months and when the 2 months ended they were swapped with 2 Camels (possibly London Zoo were the loanees as Mr C Bartlett (from London Zoo) visited to inspect the Elephant whilst it was here ... By June 1884 Marmosets , Crane , Herons , A Diana Monkey , Black Swans , A Tiger and an additional 2 Parrots arrived .... There were also reports of Wolves and A Polar Bear were here but these never appeared in any adverts for the Pleasure Gardens .... That was the last report of any animals here of any description .... The Pleasure Gardens seemed to take on more sporting activities .... It was reported that due to Public looking elsewhere for free entertainment that this was the demise of the Animal collection Strangely enough Preston was also said to have had a Zoological Garden between the years of 1865 and 1870 but unless it was called something totally different to Preston Zoological Garden I cannot for the moment track it down
I have a feeling that Jumbo II came from Cross of Liverpool but I can't just trace the appropriate reference at the moment.
