page_title: Belle Vue Zoological Gardens
section_title: Zoo
hierarchical_section_title: Belle Vue Zoological Gardens / Zoo
caption_attribution_description: English: Consul was the first tame chimpanzee bought for the Belle Vue Zoo. He died a year later, on 24 November 1894.
context_page_description: Belle Vue Zoological Gardens was a large zoo, amusement park, exhibition hall complex and speedway stadium in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, opened in 1836. The brainchild of John Jennison, the gardens were initially intended to be an entertainment for the genteel middle classes, with formal gardens and dancing on open-air platforms during the summer, but they soon became one of the most popular attractions in Northern England. Before moving to Belle Vue, Jennison, a part-time gardener, had run a small aviary at his home, the beginnings of the zoo that over the years grew to become the third-largest in the United Kingdom.
  Jennison set out a small amusements area in Belle Vue during the 1870s, which was expanded in the early 20th century to become what was advertised as the "showground of the world". Popular rides included the 60 mph Bobs roller coaster and the Scenic Railway. Other entertainments included grand firework displays from 1852 and an annual Christmas circus from 1922. Music and dancing were popular attractions in Belle Vue's various ballrooms.
context_section_description: Belle Vue was the first privately financed zoo in England, and grew to become the third-largest in the UK. Jennison's original idea was that the gardens should be primarily a botanical excursion, but it became clear that the public was interested in the animals as an attraction in their own right. The initial collection had consisted of domestic birds and a few exotic parrots, but Jennison probably also acquired those animals that could not be sold after the Manchester Zoological Gardens closed in 1842. By 1856, the Jennisons had added kangaroos, rhinos, lions, bears and gazelles.
  In 1871 the zoo acquired four giraffes; the following year an elephant, Maharajah, was bought for £680 from Wombwell's Menagerie No.1 in Edinburgh. The plan to transport Maharajah from Edinburgh to Manchester by train was abandoned after the elephant destroyed the railway compartment in which he was to travel. It was therefore decided that Maharajah and his trainer, Lorenzo Lawrence, should walk to Manchester, a journey they completed in 10 days with little incident. Lorenzo became the zoo's head elephant keeper, and stayed at Belle Vue for more than 40 years. Maharajah provided elephant rides to the public for ten years, until his death from pneumonia in 1882. His skeleton was preserved and added to the gardens' natural history museum. When the museum was decommissioned in 1941, the skeleton, along with other exhibits, was transferred to the Manchester Museum.
  In 1893 a chimpanzee was purchased from another of Wombwell's Travelling Menageries in London. The four-year-old chimpanzee, Consul, was dressed in a smoking jacket and cap and puffed on a cob pipe; he frequently accompanied James Jennison to business meetings. Consul proved to be exceptionally popular, and after his death on 24 November 1894, the Jennisons immediately obtained a replacement, Consul II, who played a violin while riding a tricycle around the gardens, later graduating to a bicycle.
  Food for the animals became difficult to obtain during the First World War, but for the most part the gardens carried on as usual. Following the declaration of peace, several monkeys originally destined for government experiments with poison gas were acquired, as was a hippo, a dromedary and a zebra. In 1921 and 1922 the zoo obtained two animals who became great favourites. Lil, an Indian elephant, arrived in 1921 accompanied by her British Malayan handler, Phil Fernandez. Phil and Lil provided entertainment, advertising, and elephant rides for 35 years. Frank, a brown bear, arrived in 1922. By the time of his death, 40 years later, he was known as the "Father of the Zoo".
  Open-air cages installed in the Monkey House resulted in a dramatic improvement in the life expectancy of its residents, but the potential for expansion and improvement after the First World War was limited by the post-war economy. Rising labour costs and minimal profits resulted in the gardens' increasing dilapidation. The zoo began to be neglected after the sale of Belle Vue in 1925, but it was rejuvenated by the appointment of Gerald Iles as zoo superintendent in 1933. A new Gibbon Cage and Monkey Mountain were created and the Reptile House was extended.
  In 1925, a display at the zoo was entitled "Cannibals" and featured black Africans depicted as savages.
  On the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the animal keepers were issued with rifles to deal with any dangerous animals who might escape if the gardens were bombed. A night shift was introduced to watch over the animals 24 hours a day. A list of dangerous animals that was drawn up included 13 lions, 6 tigers, 2 leopards, 1 cheetah, 2 tigons, 3 other small cats and several bears. Although the zoo's administrators succeeded in convincing the local authorities that any danger from the animals was minimal, primarily because the perimeter walls were so high, the keepers were replaced in their sharp-shooting role by soldiers who patrolled the grounds armed with tommy guns.
  Stocks were increased by animals transferred from other zoos that had been forced to close. Initial
caption: Consul, from his 1894 obituary
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