Walk through time with megafauna at the Australian National Botanic Gardens

Alerting all explorers! The team at the Australian National Botanic Gardens need your help to discover our long-lost creatures in the Gardens this winter. You’re invited to explore Australia’s ancient megafauna through three extraordinary experiences.

1. MEGAfauna: a walk through time!

First up isMEGAfauna: a walk through time!from 1 to 30 July.

Travel back in time with us for a family-friendly outdoor discovery trail combining nature, science, art, culture, history and fun! Throughout July, adventurers are encouraged to take a walk through the Gardens to see unique plants and animals that existed in prehistoric Australia.

Following their migratory route to seasonal feeding grounds, three ancient diprotodons have become lost in the city and have found their way to the Australian National Botanic Gardens. As they try to make their way in the altered landscape, these visitors from a forgotten time, created by visual theatre masterminds Dead Puppet Society, provoke a reflection on how humans have changed this island and its creatures, and the importance of the Gardens for plant and animal conservation.

Watch and interact as these life-sized diprotodons roam the Gardens for the first week of the school holidays from 1 to 7 July. Enjoy both day and night activities inspired by our natural world, with around 18 megafauna sculptures and plants to discover during this month-long event.

Megafauna Dead Puppet Society - Queensland Music Trails 2021 — See life-sized diprotodons created by Dead Puppet Society roam the Gardens for the first week of the school holidays, 1–7 July.

2. MEGAfauna afterDARK

After the sun sets, from 1 to 7 July, 5.30–8.30pm, you’re offered a rare opportunity to see the sculptures and plants illuminated throughout the Gardens at night. Let your imagination soar as you experience this exquisite, one-of-a-kind open-air puppetry performance during MEGAfauna afterDARK. Dead Puppet Society is an Australian-based production and design house creating deeply imaginative visual theatre, public art, and sculpture, combining timeless craftsmanship with cutting edge technology. Costs apply; bookings essential.

Megafauna Dead Puppet Society - Festival 2018 Photo by Justin Nicholas.

3. Megafauna

In the Visitor Centre Gallery from 1 July to 6 August, 9.30am–4.30pm daily, you can explore the free Megafauna exhibition.

When not roving near the Friends Lawn and Pollen café, these life-sized diprotodons will take refuge in a prehistoric installation in the Visitor Centre Gallery until they leave to roam the land again.

Did you know that Diprotodon optatum migrated seasonally, trekking across Australia to find its food sources of plants? Not only was it the largest marsupial known to have existed in the world, but no other marsupial living or extinct is known to undertake such journeys. So, consider migrating like Diprotodon to Canberra during July, to visit this one-of-a-kind trail to see some amazing animals and plants up close and personal.

Cycad_Macrozamia seeds — Visit the one-of-a-kind Megafauna trail at the Australian National Botanic Gardens during July to see some amazing animals and plants up close and personal.

Journey through the Rainforest Gully to the Brittle Gum Lawn, surrounded by plants from the Gondwana supercontinent, to see two apex predators face off. The six-metre-long Quinkana, land-dwelling crocodile, will be making its debut to go up against the largest terrestrial lizard, Megalania. Compare these fierce features and decide which one would win in a battle!

Quinkana, a distant relative to the modern crocodile, had sharp teeth, a powerful jaw, and strong, fast legs to chase its prey. Quinkana’s northern tropical habitat will be on display at the Gardens in late 2023, with the opening of the Ian Potter National Conservatory.

Nearby to the apex battle and the National Seed Bank, explorers will find living plant fossils as old as dinosaurs like the Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis) – an Australian botanical celebrity – and prehistoric Cycads (Macrozamia species). Cycads produce a large cone which opens when ripe to show vibrant colours. The bright seeds attracted megafauna in mass feeding events.

MEGAfauna will be held during NAIDOC Week (2–9 July). The Gardens worked with Wilay Designs for the event imagery to complement and connect the events. The main image by Wilay Designs depicts the migratory journey of Diprotodon across hills and rivers to find plants.

Wilay Designs is a creative partnership between Jazz and Kristal, who are two Ngunawal sisters and artists. Wilay Designs art is inspired by their Ngunawal culture, and the stories passed down by their family. Their art is not only a reflection of their own identity and perspective, but also a way to start positive conversations about culture, educate others, and promote understanding by sharing knowledge.

MEGAfauna is a fully accessible event, proudly supported by ACT Government, Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and Ovolo Nishi.

Fun unconventional and never boring at Ovolo Nishi. Book and travel until 30 July 2023. Use promo code ‘Megafauna23’ to receive 15% off accommodation. T&Cs apply. Book direct via ovolohotels.com/ovolo/nishi/stay/. Subject to availability.