“This guy is going to be chasing the whole herd of little fellows, bouncing over rocks, galloping across the plateau – it’s going to be pretty amazing.”
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Listen to David Elliott talk about the latest delivery to his Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum at Winton – 10 lifesize dinosaur models cast in bronze from a foundry in Texas in the US arrived this week – and you could be forgiven for thinking the world had spun back millions of years to when these creatures did indeed roam the earth, such is his enthusiasm.
In this latest project, the models will be placed in an outdoor gallery along the escarpment that the world-class tourist attraction sits on top of, 24km from Winton.
The replica dinosaurs include a model of one found in the region, Australovenator wintonensis , Australia’s most complete meat-eating dinosaur.
Other are plant-eating ornithopods the size of emus and little carnivores the size of a domestic chook.
They’ll all be placed in such a way along pathways that even people in wheelchairs will be able to access their excitable chase.
“It’s the only place in Australia where you’ll be able to be beside life-size realistic dinosaurs,” David said.
The display brings AAOD a step closer to stage three of the museum’s ongoing development, which includes a 6000 square metre multi-million dollar building that will house exhibition, administration and educational spaces aimed at making the museum Australia's leading natural history museum.
"We live on one of the oldest land masses in the world, but for most of us our understanding of it is vague,” David said. “Where has it come from? How has it changed? And even more important, where is it going?!"
Through the lens of tourism, David wants to focus attention on our evolutionary history and tell the story of Australia’s progression over the last four-and-a-half billion years.
His organisation has been collecting fossils all round Australia for the last five years or so, from different time periods, to help shine that light.
“It’s probably a few years before we’re ready but we’re closer every year,” David said.
In the meantime, he and his administration have signed a long-term management agreement with the Winton Shire Council to run the Lark Quarry dinosaur stampede site in the southern part of the shire.
According to mayor Butch Lenton, it will give tourists a single cohesive dinosaur experience when they visit the region.
He said they were best equipped to tell the story in a way that visitors of all ages would understand.
