Plymouth Zoo, United Kingdom , was founded in 1962. The last elephant left in 1978. Plymouth Zoo closed down in 1978.
Plymouth Zoo was located in Central Park adjacent to Plymouth Argyle\'s Home Park Football Ground. It was opened on Thursday April 19th 1962 by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Arthur Goldberg. There were 13,000 visitors during the first three days. Prefabricated buildings were used to hous ethe 200 or so animals, which kept the cost of the whole venture to around £30,000. The Directors were Mr Jimmy Chipperfield, of the famous circus family, and Mr George Houghton. In July 1977 the Tropical House was closed. The Zoo closed its doors on Sunday January 8th 1978 as a result of falling visitor numbers. The Chipperfields formed a new company Kingfisher Leisure to convert the zoo grounds into a skateboard park, retaining some of the birds as an attraction for the skateboarders. The animals were removed to Longleat House and Bournemouth Zoo but the quarantine facility continued to operate for a few more years.
