Some people think the streets of Cambridge are a jungle, with pedestrians and motorists tearing through them like packs of wild animals.

But last night, Cantabrigians got a chance to see some real jungle animals, albeit slower and tamer ones, parade down their streets, courtesy of a visiting circus.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus's arrival yesterday was marked by a procession of animals from their train to Boston Garden. There, the "greatest show on earth"--now in its 125th consecutive year--will go on from October 16 to October 27.

Elephants, llamas, camels, and zebras walked a two-mile route from the railroad tracks near MIT down to the Longfellow bridge and across to Boston Garden.

Carol Robinson of the advertising firm Agnew, Carter, and McCarthy, which promotes the circus's Boston shows, said that the animals parade every year simply to get from the train to the arena. This year, however, the firm decided to publicize the parade to attract a larger crowd.

Armour Food Co., a major sponsor of the circus, gave away 1000 hot dogs to parade watchers.

There was some rain, however, on the parade. The train's late arrival, sluggish traffic, technical problems at the Garden, and some real rain delayed the parade for three-and-a-half hours and dampened parade watchers' spirits. Many left before the parade started.

Arnie Armour, the hot dog mascot, had a wholly different problem, however. He couldn't ride in the parade because the constraints of his costume--an upright frank--made it impossible for him to mount an elephant.