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BROOKFIELD – For those who just can't get enough of dinosaurs – and who can – the new Dinos & Dragons exhibit at Brookfield Zoo is for them.
Sponsored by the Chicago Zoological Society and presented by Meijer, the exhibit will have guests coming face to face with 17 lifelike animatronic creatures, including the Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex and Chinese dragon, which is one of three mythical creatures that are featured, along with the griffin and wyvern.
Along the winding outdoor path, guests can explore the origins of myths and legends through culture, literature and paleontology. Inside a 4,000-square-foot tent, Brookfield Zoo partnered with Here Be Dragons to allow zoo goers to get up close and personal with live reptiles, including a 6-foot Komodo dragon – a first for the zoo.
The exhibit also will have hands-on activities, games like Game of Bones, Dinopardy, Dino Feud and Are You Smarter Than A Paleontologist? Kids also can experience a dinosaur dissection lab, dino dig boxes and an excavation site.
“It’s really an engaging experience,” said Andre Copeland, Brookfield Zoo’s interpretive programs manager.
He said there may be opportunitiesfor people to touch some living dragons, like the frilled dragon and the bearded dragon.
This isn’t the first time the zoo has had animatronics, but Dinos & Dragons focuses on the connection between dinosaurs and mythology, Copeland said.
“We want people to use their critical thinking skills to think about early paleontologists who may have described what an animal looked like based on one or two bones that could have led to the myths about dragons and other mythical creatures," he said.
Copeland said a lot of early paleontologists' drawings resemble dragons of mythology, so the zoo wanted people to start thinking about mythology in a different way.
"Could mythology have actually had a connection to the science of the time?" he said. "Science and imagination go hand in hand. Einstein said if you want to be a scientist, never lose your sense of imagination.”
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If you go
What: Dinos & Dragons
When: Through Sept. 17
Where: Brookfield Zoo, 8400 31st St., Brookfield
Cost: $5 for nonmember adults, $3 for nonmember children ages 3 to 11, $3 for nonmember seniors 65 and older; members receive half-price admission
Info: czs.org/dinosdragons