Dinosaurs Arriving Monday at NC Zoo
Posted on 03/09/12Asheboro, NC - Fifteen life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs--stars of a new exhibit slated to open the last day of this month at the North Carolina Zoo--will arrive via trucks for installation around 8:30 a.m., Monday, March 12.
Technicians with Billings Productions, the Texas company that created the dinsaurs, will be on site for five days to oversee installation of the state-of-the-art, robotic creatures. Billings specializes in producing dinosaur exhibits for zoos, theme parks and other tourist attractions around the country.
The dinosaurs will inhabit a deep forest exhibit created just for this first-time attraction at the N.C. Zoo. A winding pathway lined with ancient plants near the zoo's African Pavilion will transport visitors back in time to come face-to-face with the ferocious flesh-eating Tyrannosaurus Rex, the gigantic herbivorous Brachiosaurus and many other denizens of pre-historic earth.
Billings' creations utilize hydraulic motion systems and intricately painted rubber skin on steel frames that make the dinosaurs more life-like. Bold colors and theatrical touches along with state-of-the-art electronics make the dinosaurs come to life, with movements that include grasping hands, menacing claws and gnashing teeth. One of the dinosaurs can even be operated by visitors using a remote control box. During the installation process, members of the media will be able to view the inner workings of the dinosaurs and speak to the experts who created them.
Media representatives interested in the dinosaurs' installation should contact Rod Hackney or Tom Gillespie in the zoo's Marketing Division: [email protected] or 336-8979-7204; and [email protected] or 336-879-7202.
The zoo is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Dee Freeman, Secretary; Beverly E. Perdue, Governor.
###
