INNISFAIL – The dinosaurs have arrived at Discovery Wildlife Park.
Not quite all of them. But the ones already here are set to give visitors a special experience in their new prehistoric park setting inside the central Alberta wildlife park.
In fact, gigantic dinosaur eggs have been hollowed out for picture-taking.
But Doug Bos, the park's co-owner, is certain his new life-sized arrivals will be a big hit for wildlife enthusiasts, even if the new tyrannosaurus, triceratops and assorted raptors are not particularly scary, or even real.
They are animatronic dinosaurs, robotic models of the fabled prehistoric creatures that are designed to move and make sounds, creating a lifelike and interactive experience.
“This just gives our customers more reason to come and more reason to stay longer. We got a lot of competition out there,” said Bos, whose park opened its 2025 season on May 1.
“Travel Alberta has been handing out a lot of money over the past years, and a lot of people are developing different things, and we got to try to compete and keep up to it.
“And so, we thought by adding the dinosaurs people wouldn't have to travel way up north to the Jurassic Forest or way down to Drumheller. To see them in central Alberta they could come here.”
At a total investment of about $100,000, Bos worked out a deal with the Calgary Zoo last November to purchase and haul up by truck and trailer 25 animatronic dinosaurs and their power boxes from the southern zoo’s collection.
And all of them will be powered up to move and roar to give guests special moments from the prehistoric past.
In recent weeks, 22 of the 25 destined for Innisfail had arrived.
Most have already been placed in a new fenced-off section of the park.
Some are in what Bos calls his Dinosaur Hospital, getting touch-ups to repair skin damage to ensure each one look ever so real for park visitors.
“Birds get at them and pick at it. They pick holes in it. So, we got to repair and paint that,” said Bos. “It's minor repairs, and then we scrub them because they've been sitting outside for a long time. They've got quite dirty.
“So, we wash them all and bring out the colour. It's ongoing repair with this type of dinosaur. Every dinosaur park has to do this because the skin is very soft. It feels like our skin, right?”
The remaining three, the largest dinosaurs at 20 feet tall or more in length, were expected to arrive soon from Calgary.
And after their long journey to central Alberta, Bos and zoo staff will then fine-tune the arrangement of all 25 animatronic dinosaurs for the best eye-popping display as possible for all seasons.
“We're going to light them up. Some of them are going to light up for the Christmas light show,” said Bos of the zoo’s annual Light the Night drive-thru display that already features more than a million lights.
“We’re trying to give them (guests) more value for their money when they come.”
