Here’s what you need to know about zoo’s dragon exhibit this summer
The Milwaukee County Zoo is the perfect place to go to see large animals — from elephants and hippos to rhinos and polar bears. Many summers, there are even dinosaurs to see (of the robotic or Lego variety because dinosaurs are — of course — extinct).
This summer’s special exhibit, though, is a little different. It will be in the same place the robotic dinosaurs typically hang out — in the outdoor area behind the small mammal building, surrounded by beautiful foliage compliments of the zoo’s horticultural department.
But this year’s exhibit will feature neither the real, live animals who live throughout the zoo nor the robotic, extinct animals that lived millions of years ago. These robotic animals never lived. They’re mythical.
They’re dragons.
Paige Ballard, a visitor services specialist with the zoo, said she went to the San Antonio zoo last summer and saw Dino Don’s mythical dragon exhibit.
Dino Don is a company that, for the last 30 years, has provided touring natural history exhibitions to zoos and museums. As the name implies, the exhibits typically feature giant dinosaurs.
Milwaukee decided to bring the dragons here, and will be only the third zoo in the country to feature Dino Don’s new exhibit.
Ballard said Milwaukee will be making some tweaks to the exhibit for their own purposes.
“In San Antonio, the exhibit had more of a Renaissance Faire feeling,” said Ballard. “Here we’re going more toward hitting hard on animal conservation messaging.”
There are several reasons Ballard thinks families will feel encouraged to advocate for animal conservation after they see the dragons.
Kids love dragons
Kids’ interest in dinosaurs is legendary — from their fascination with dinothemed movies and TV shows to their uncanny ability to remember long, complicated names of the extinct giants.
Staff at the zoo suspect children will be similarly interested in dragons. And they’re hoping to build on their interest in facts about dragon lore to also get them interested in facts about other animals.
“Everyone loves the dinosaurs, they’re big amazing, colorful. And when we came across the dragons that Dino Don created, there was a lot of the same feeling,” said Ballard. “And we know that movies like ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ are really popular with kids too, so we wanted that connection. This is a really good way to build on that interest so kids can learn a little bit more about the zoo and conservation goals.”
Dragons inspire connection to real-life animals
The zoo plans to relate interest in mythical creatures to real-life animal conservation by pointing out the similarities between dragon features and popular zoo animals.
There will be 15 dragons throughout the exhibit, and each will represent the mythology of a different culture.
Dragon myths are common throughout the world and are thought to have been partially inspired by dinosaur fossils people in history may have found without understanding what dinosaurs were. Bodily features from those fossils were then added to other animal features to create the fictional beasts.
Because the dragon stories were inspired by different parts of the world, each dragon’s body has characteristics of animals common to those environments.
For example, one robotic dragon, Ninki Nanka, is based on a mythical creature from West Africa, which also has elements of crocodiles, giraffes and pangolins.
“In our signage, we’ll be pointing out the animal comparisons that each of the dragons have and encouraging guests to find them,” said Ballard. “Then we’ll make the connection to current animals and conservation by pointing out the animals we have at the zoo. Like, if one dragon has the characteristics of a snake, we’ll encourage visitors to visit our snakes at the aquatic and reptile center to see the similarities for themselves.”
Dragons are a great way to learn about different cultures
The Milwaukee Zoological Society recently received a grant to increase the use of empathy in the zoo’s programming, with the idea being if people empathize with animals, they’re more likely to advocate for their conservation.
One element of empathy-building is to encourage visitors to empathize with people in other cultures by taking advantage of the fact that the zoo has a natural connection to other parts of the world through the animals that come from other countries.
“As people walk around the zoo, it’s clear to see we have representative species from all over the world,” said Beth Heller, the society’s vice president of programs. “As visitors recognize that there are many cultures that inform our experiences, that understanding helps us have empathy for each other.”
Ballard said the dragon exhibit follows the same principles of building empathy through cultural awareness.
“This exhibit will be a global celebration of the mythical stories that all humans in different regions and cultures tell,” said Ballard. “Dragons show that connection between humans in different cultures, and the dragons’ features show the connection to real-life animals that need to be conserved.”
If you go
The dragon exhibit will feature more than 15 robotic dragons, many of which will move and make noises, set in an environment of foliage planted by the zoo’s horticultural department.
The exhibit will be located in the outdoor area behind the zoo’s small mammal building from May 28 through Sept. 5.
Visitors must pay for a zoo admission, plus an added price of $3 to visit the exhibit.
There will be a dragon-themed gift shop tent located in the exhibit.
Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 8759488 or amy.schwabe@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @WisFamilyJS, Instagram at @wisfamilyjs or Facebook at WisconsinFamily.