Dinosaurs may have roamed the earth for millions of years, but today it's rare to see one moving right in front of your eyes.
Now you have a chance to hear a T-rex's mighty roar, as to kick off the school holidays, the National Zoo and Aquarium has opened its new Extinction Trail.
Complete with animatronic dinosaurs and roving puppeteers, it is an experience certain to entertain but also educate parents and children about the importance of conserving our environment.
National Zoo and Aquarium general manager Renee Nasserpour said "we want to instil that sense of responsibility about protecting wildlife and the future of our wildlife".
The Extinction Trail includes a great tyrannosaurus rex, a Tasmania tiger, a giant wombat, and a dodo.
"We are increasing our extinction trail with a number of different species, not only dinosaurs, but species that have become extinct over the past 100 years," Ms Nasserpour said.
For the school holidays, the Extinction Trail will have roving puppeteers and a meet-and-greet with "Dino Keeper" Reagan Hughes who will interact with visitors.
Alli, a live allosaurus, will meet and greet children and parents for the length of the school holidays.
Ms Hughes will hold and show children Pachy, a baby pachycephalosaurus, and Ozzie, a young ozraptor.
Fully grown, Pachy would roughly be the size of a young adult at 160 centimetres tall. He would have had a pretty long lifespan, due to his ability to protect themselves with his extremely thick skull, but would still be susceptible to predators.
Pachy would have roamed the earth approximately 66 million years ago before an asteroid hit the earth, wiping out all land dinosaurs.
Children of all ages are invited to pet Pachy and Ozzie, and learn about the lives they would have lived.
Ms Hughes says having small and younger dinosaurs are less threatening and intimidating to kids. While some are initially afraid of the baby dinosaur before them, it is good to step them out of their comfort zone.
It's important to ensure the kids learn "not to get afraid of different animals", Ms Hughes said.
Although Ms Nasserpour said sometimes a bit of fear sparks interest, and makes a very memorable experience for kids to look back on.
"It is really an opportunity to provide an educational component, a conservation message included in having the dinosaurs here."
The animatronic elements of the trail are now a permanent fixture of the zoo, and are a part of the experience of visiting the National Zoo, even after the school holidays have concluded.
