'Like You're Back In Time': Dino Exhibit Opens At SF Zoo

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A new roaring exhibition has been set loose at the San Francisco Zoo this summer.

The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens' summer dinosaur exhibit opens Wednesday and will run through Sept. 15, according to officials.

It features 21 life-size animatronic dinosaurs that move and roar. Dinosaurs are grouped by era and geographic region.

Paulo Vergara, the zoo's marketing director, said the exhibit was an opportunity to "bring community together in a different way."

"For them to inspire learning in a completely new lens through dinosaur knowledge and how that links to birds and evolution and social behavior that goes back millions of years — that you can see now in the current animal residents that are here at the zoo," Vergara said.

Dino Don Inc. built the animatronics under the supervision of paleontologists. Don Lessem, an advisor in the 1993 film "Jurassic Park," founded the company.

"This kind of a jungle environment, it really makes it so much richer because you feel like you're back in time," Lessem said during a preview of the exhibit Tuesday, according to Bay City News. "We have them in zoos everywhere, in lots of places, just kind of out in the open. But this is really atmospheric."

The exhibit is located in the prehistoric garden and costs an extra $9 fee.

Bay City News contributed to this report.