Tight security for dinosaur treasures 12 extra guards tasked to protect displays at mall.

Cityplaza has tightened security to protect mainland dinosaur fossils that are being assembled at the shopping mall for a month-long display.

Elizabeth Kok, senior portfolio manager of Swire Properties Management, said 12 extra security guards would protect the national treasures at the Taikoo Shing mall from Friday to July 31.

She said metre-high glass panels would be erected around the fossils to prevent damage. The management company is also paying for insurance coverage.

Three of the fossils are from the Sichuan Zigong Dinosaur Museum and five from the Beijing Natural History Musuem.

Workers have completed assembling four exhibits, while another four are expected to be finished before Friday.

The public can watch the 160-million-year-old, mid-Triassic age fossils being pieced together.

The treasures fully installed include the Omeisaurus tianfuensis, which is 10 metres tall and the second largest dinosaur fossil in Asia, and the Huayangosaurus taibaii, the oldest intact stegosaurus fossil ever found.

Other exhibits include the Mamenchisaurus jingyanensis, the longest and the most intact fossil ever found, and the Shunosaurus lii, whose undisclosed insurance is the highest among the exhibits.

"This is the very first exhibition of Chinese dinosaur fossils in a shopping mall in Asia, and it is also the first time the public can witness the installation," Ms Kok said. "We hope people can experience a close encounter with all these national treasures."

Shopper Irene Li said the exhibits looked like fakes. "They are just like models," she said. "I think there are not many big museums in Hong Kong, that's why they have to place these big fossils in the shopping mall."

Another visitor, Andy Chan, said it was a unique experience to have a close look at the dinosaurs.

"I am shocked to know the dinosaurs are so huge," he said. "But these exhibits lack a sense of reality when compared with those seen in films."

Source Citation:"Tight security for dinosaur treasures 12 extra guards tasked to protect displays at mall." Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (June 20, 2005): NA. Popular Magazines. Gale. BROWARD COUNTY LIBRARY. 6 Oct. 2009
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