Dinny, Calgary’s oldest dino will not go extinct anytime soon

Dinny the brontosaurus has been a staple feature at the Calgary Zoo for almost 80 years and now, thanks to one particularly passionate family, will be receiving a full makeover.
Over the past two years many people donated to Dinny’s fund that $70,000 of the $100,000 needed by the zoo had been raised by June 16.
Less than two weeks later, the zoo announced that the remaining costs have been covered by a generous donation from the Brawn Family Foundation.
The donation will include all needed structural repairs, a paint job, a garden just for Dinny and family picnics, and a mini-Dinny for kids to climb on, one much less of a falling hazard than the real Dinny was.
For the Brawn Family Foundation, the donation was personal, not business.
“As kids, we couldn’t wait to visit the zoo and spent most of the visit climbing Dinny and pretending he was our own personal pet," said Kelley Buckley of the Brawn Family Foundation.
"We hope the Dinny green space will bring as many happy family memories to visitors as it has for our family.”
OLDEST ZOO RESIDENT
Dinny is currently the record holder for oldest zoo resident, being the first dinosaur sculpture to arrive in the late 1930’s. He is now on Calgary's evaluated historic resource list as a monument to be preserved.
In 2019 a $200,000 restoration package was approved to fix Dinny’s bum leg and stiff neck, as the hand-crafted concrete statue has been cracking and weathering since its installation during the great depression.
The plan was for the city and zoo to split the bill on the project, leading the zoo to start a Dinny donation fundraiser to cover repair costs.
Dinny has been a Calgary resident since his creation by John Kaverna in 1935. He was unveiled at the zoo in 1937 during the opening of the Natural History Park which lasted until 1983 before being replaced with Dino Park found at the zoo today.
Reports differ but most suggest Dinny is over 110 tonnes with a height of about 10 meters (or 34 feet), and a length over 33 meters (or 107 feet), which is fairly accurately scaled to the actual size of a brontosaurus.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Alleged Montreal-area 'Chinese police stations' planning to sue RCMP for $2.5 million
Two Chinese community centres in the Montreal area are planning to launch a $2.5 million defamation lawsuit against the RCMP and the Attorney General of Canada after being accused by the police force of hosting 'alleged Chinese police stations.'
Lawyer in Ali murder trial says 13-year-old B.C. victim was not an 'innocent'
Ibrahim Ali's lawyer says the 13-year-old girl he's accused of murdering in a British Columbia park wasn't the “innocent” depicted in a “rose-coloured” portrayal by the Crown at trial.
'I cry all the time': Nova Scotia couple returns after 40 days in Gaza
It has been five days since Palestinian-Canadian couple, Khalil and Nabila Manna, returned from visiting relatives in Gaza, but while the couple planned to visit for a short-period of time, the Israel-Hamas conflict left them stranded for 40 days
With Canada set to reimpose cap on working hours, international students worry about paying for tuition, living expenses
Canada is set to reimpose the cap on the number of hours that international students can work off campus. But with heightened cost-of-living concerns in Canada, many international students say they're not sure how they'll be able to afford their tuition and living expenses if they can't work full-time.
Inmate stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times, charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
A federal inmate was charged Friday with attempted murder in the prison stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
'Jumped over their heads': Kangaroo escapes Ontario zoo during overnight stay
The search for a kangaroo that escaped an Ontario zoo will resume on Saturday morning, according to staff and volunteers.
Mild, rainy winter expected as Canada warms at twice the global rate
Winter will be unusually warm and rainy across much of the country this year, according to the latest data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Here's how Air Canada's new baggage tracking app works
Air Canada is hoping to give its customers more confidence when travelling with checked luggage through a new baggage tracking feature.
Alleged victims speak out after a Waterloo, Ont. man posed as a CSIS agent and scammed women out of millions
Several women have come forward claiming they were victims of a romance scam by a Waterloo, Ont. man. Police believe he allegedly defrauded dozens of women out of more than $2 million over 15 years.