Pearl Coast Wildlife Park later changed to Pearl Coast Zoological Gardens was the vision of Lord Alistair McAlpine, who visited Broome in 1979 and fell in love with it. He later returned to develop Broome into a first-class tourist destination with Cable Beach Club and his beloved Zoo.
The Zoo was opened in August 1984 and sadly closed in 1991.
McAlpine's vision was to create an ark for all endangered and at-risk species and to begin a breeding program with like-minded Zoo's and Wildlife parks around the world.
The Broome Public Library has commenced collecting information and first-hand accounts from employees and associated people. The Banfield family, who later purchased the property has loaned the library their collection of Lord McAlpine memorabilia to be scanned and preserved for posterity.
Lord McAlpine had visited the Broome Public Library for book launches in 2002 and 2012.
