RETURN TO THE LOST WORLD
Delco’s ‘Dino Dan’ creates incredible display at the Philly Zoo:
MIDDLETOWN » When visitors to the Philadelphia Zoo visit the new, multisensory “Big Time: Life in an Endangerous Age” attraction that opened earlier this spring, they’ll likely be quite impressed with the authenticity and realism of the 24 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs that will immerse them in a prehistoric journey starting millions of years ago through to today. The scientifically accurate dinosaurs were made possible by the creativity and scientific expertise of Middletown Township resident Don Lessem, AKA “Dino Don.”
Lessem, owner of Dinodon, Inc., headquartered at a quirky 1784 Addams Family-style mansion in Delaware County, is a worldwide dinosaur expert. In fact, according to Lessem, his company is the world’s leading supplier of robotic dinosaur exhibitions, featured in the largest zoos in the U.S. and Europe. Dinodon robots are uniquely full-sized and scientifically accurate. In the last three years, his company’s new robotic division has become the world leader in supplying zoos and museums – more than 250 dinosaurs, dragons, Ice Age animals and Insect robots across the United States and Europe. Dino Don, Inc. designs traveling dinosaur exhibits that feature monster-sized Chinese and Argentinean fossil casts, moving dinosaur robots and interactive “dig pits.” In addition to building dinosaurs commercially, the team at Dinodon will even be happy to build a forty foot dinosaur for a private home or small business if requested.
“We are open to inquiries about our robots,” explained Lessem. “We go to great lengths to insure that our dinosaurs are scientifically accurate by taking time with the details. Some of our dinosaurs take up to three years to build.”
Before debuting his dinosaurs at the new Big Time Philadelphia Zoo attraction, Dinodon supplied the huge creatures to eleven
other zoos, including ones in Chicago, Seattle, and Oklahoma City, as well as enormous dragons in San Antonio, giant insects at the National Science Center in Brussels and many others. The company has even built the world’s largest dinosaur in the world, the 110 foot-long Argentinosaurus. Lessem was the owner and founder of Dino Don’s Dinosaurium, a popular dinosaur museum in the former Granite Run Mall, that brought area dinosaur enthusiasts, school children on field trips, and other visitors many hours of pleasure.
“When I see a person look up at one of the creatures we built and their eyes light up and their mouth drops in awe,” Lessem shared, “There’s no better feeling in the world to me.”
At the Philadelphia Zoo’s Big Time exhibit, visitors can encounter the 98 footlong, 6,000 pound Alamosaurus, the largest dinosaur known in North America, as it swings an enormous, 20 foot-long tail and the 40 foot-long and an Edmontosaurus, an herbivore, with a toothless beak so strong it crushed plant material such as ginkgos, conifers and cycads. Guests will then continue on to Prehistoric Passage, where a 40 foot-long, 3,000 pound, T- Rex chomps his threatening jaws and a strange-looking Ankylosaurus, sporting a heavy body armor, thrashes its gigantic club-like tail. There is also the Triceratops, with its 1,000-pound head, and three massive horns, the 30 foot-tall Quetzalcoatlus, one of the largest flying animals of all time, with an enormous 35 foot-long wingspan, and the Anzu, a feathered dinosaur resembling a bird, that is 10 feet long. Some of the other dinosaurs on the Big Time journey include the Quetzalcoatlus, the Pachyceph
alosaurs, the Dakotaraptor, the Thylacoleo, the Aepyornis, the Procoptodon, the Megatherium, the Smilodon and more.
“Dino Don” has spent his lifetime surrounded by the prehistoric creatures. Like many young boys, Lessem impressed his family, as a child, with his vast knowledge of dinosaurs and the ability to easily spout off the complicated names of the prehistoric creatures. A native of Boston, and a former Knight Journalism Fellow at M.I.T., Lessem earned his undergraduate degree in Oriental Art and a master degree in primatology, studying animal behavior. After college, he went to work as a science correspondent for The Boston Globe. While in his young 30s, his editor sent him out west to Montana and North Dakota to profile a few scientists who were working on unearthing prehistoric fossils of dinosaurs. The story material was so interesting to Lessem, that he gave up his journalism career and never looked back.
“I have an ADD personality,” joked Lessem. “I’ve worked in dinosaurs my whole life, but I’ve done all kinds of different things with them. I am always on to the next project or the next idea!”
Lessem is right about that. He wrote three documentaries on dinosaurs that aired on the Discovery Channel and hosted one Nova television series and acted as scientific advisor to others. Lessem is the author of over 50 books for adults and children on dinosaurs and natural history, most recently the bestselling National Geographic “Dinopedia,” the most complete dinosaur encyclopedia ever written for children.
In addition to the many books that he has authored for National Geographic, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic and other publishers, “Dino” Don answered than 11,000 letters to his “Ask Dino Don” column in Highlights Magazine, the nation’s largest-circulated children’s magazine. Lessem’s journalism background comes into play often as he continues to write pieces on dinosaur research in Newsweek, The New York Times, Discover Magazine, The Boston Globe, Life Magazine, and other publications.
Lessem, always an educator, said he enjoys teaching others, of all ages, about their prehistoric predecessors.
“I enjoy meeting and talking to people and explaining science in a down-to-earth way,” he said. “I don’t give scientific explanations that are formal, stuffy, complicated, or difficult to understand. I want to have a little fun and give people enjoyment while they’re learning. My job is to interpret science.”
Besides being a dinosaur consultant for Universal and Disney movies and theme parks, Lessem helped to create the now-legendary dinosaurs in the original, classic Jurassic Park film. He says some of those prehistoric Jurassic Park dinos and props decorate his property today, along with some of the skeletons from his private collection, which he calls “the world’s largest.”
Through Dinodon, Inc., Lessem created the world’s largest and most popular touring dinosaur museum exhibitions, including the Jurassic Park exhibit, seen by more than five million people worldwide including museums in U.S., Canada, Italy, England, Argentina and the Netherlands.
Lessem makes it clear that he is an idea man, an inventor, a writer, explorer, exhibitor, TV host, and a consultant, and not a scientist or a paleontologist, though he works with some of the field’s best and brightest. Lessem has also participated in his share of dinosaur exploration and excavations, throughout the world. In Patagonia, Argentina, he dug up and reconstructed the world’s record-sized plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs. He has also excavated dinosaurs in Mongolia, China, Canada and Arctic Alaska.
Although he no longer does the actual excavating as in years past, the dinosaur expert says that he continues to sponsor excavations. His work takes him around the world, although he hasn’t been jetting around as much during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic.
Lessem holds the distinction that he shares with only a handful of other living people — a dinosaur is named after him. The giant Argentine plant-eating Lessemsaurus is his namesake. Dino Don’s museum dinosaur exhibitions have raised three million dollars for dinosaur research via the nonprofit Dinosaur Society and Jurassic Foundation, charities both founded by Lessem.
Lessem, the father of two daughters and twin granddaughters, shares his excitement for dinosaurs with his wife Valerie Jones, who has guided business development at the privately-owned Dinodon, Inc. for over twenty years. The company currently has eight employees on staff and another 15 technicians who work seasonally.
Lessem’s dinosaur creations in “Big Time” at the Philadelphia Zoo will be on display now through Sept. 30.
“I think people are really going to be impressed with this ‘Big Time’ exhibit and learn a lot from it,” Lessem remarked. “The subject matter is very useful and current.”
Big Time highlights some of history’s most powerful events, volcanic eruptions and asteroid strikes, that changed the atmosphere, the level of the seas, the temperature of the earth, even the amount of sunlight on the planet. As a result of these catastrophes, some creatures had the time to adapt, and others did not, dying off forever. Through evocative landscapes, realistic settings, immersive sounds and life-like giants, Big Time takes guests through the Age of Dinosaurs through to present day, showing what life was like and the challenges faced when these amazons walked the planet. As the Big Time journey comes to an end, guests can take steps to help turn the tide for endangered animals and enact change to ensure a future where everyone can all live and thrive together on the planet.
“We are very happy to welcome guests to the Zoo, to experience Big Time, a tailor-made adventure immersing guests in the world of history’s most impressive behemoths, taking them through cataclysmic events, highlighting threatened animal species today and providing ways to help enact change,” said Philadelphia Zoo’s President and CEO Vikram Dewan. “Big Time is a dynamic experience that will stimulate the senses and transport guests back in time to walk among dinosaurs like the mighty T.Rex, puts them face-to-face with an enormous Woolly Mammoth, and side-by-side with a life-sized polar bear, elephant and Sumatran rhino – incredible!”
Lessem said that, even after four decades of living and breathing all-things dinosaur, his passion for the prehistoric creatures has never waned. He bubbles over with enthusiasm, as he speaks of upcoming projects that include an all-dinosaur theme park in Texas and a traveling museum of seventy dinosaurs and skeletons from his vast collection that he is planning to take across the country.
“I’m as excited today about dinosaurs as when I was a kid,” he shared.
For more information on Lessem and his company, Dinodon, Inc., visit www.dinodoninc.com. Young fans of Dino Don and his world famous dinosaurs are invited to log onto www.Dinodon. com. Reservations to visit Philadelphia Zoo’s Big Time exhibit can be made online at www. PhiladelphiaZoo.org. Attendance is capped each day to ensure a safe experience.