Climate Activists Vandalize Replica Dinosaur at Museum of Nature in Ottawa

People visit the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa on July 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The fossil gallery at Ottawa’s Canadian Museum of Nature has been temporarily closed after a replica of a dinosaur skeleton was sprayed with pink paint by an activist in an apparent bid to draw attention to the “climate crisis.”

The incident occurred at approximately 10 a.m. on Feb. 9 in the museum’s Fossil Gallery, according to an emailed statement from the museum.

“An activist… sprayed pink paint on a cast (replica) of a dinosaur (carnotaurus), with the paint also splashing a few adjacent specimens,” the museum said.

Security staff followed procedures to “ensure the safety of visitors,” and called police, who took the activist into custody, the museum said.

The fossil gallery is closed while museum conservation experts assess the damage to the exhibit. The museum said the gallery would remain closed “until the area can be cleaned up.”

The incident at the museum is one of several demonstrations this week by Last Generation Canada, a civil disobedience group that formed last year.

Previously known as On2Ottawa, the group says its actions are intended to “draw attention to the climate crisis” and to demand the federal government take action by creating a national firefighting agency to combat wildfires.

“The paint sprayed is washable and that the skeleton targeted was a cast reproduction not made of real bones,” the group said in a press release on its website. “The choice of spray-painting a dinosaur skeleton was meant to highlight the risk of mass extinction as a result of the climate crisis.”

The demonstration at the nature museum was the third such incident in the nation’s capital this week. Last Generation Canada members also took responsibility for spraying pink paint on the exterior of the building housing the Prime Minister’s Office and blocking nearby traffic on Wellington Street on Feb. 7. The group said it also burned a stroller on Parliament Hill on Feb. 6.

All of the demonstrations have been a bid to bring attention to the impacts of  last year’s unprecedented Canadian wildfires, the group said.

“Roadblocking and disruptions are inconvenient, however the devastation of the wildfires and climate crisis are threatening life on earth,” activist Laura Sullivan said in a Last Generation press release. “We’ve tried everything—writing to our MPs, marches, and petitions. We’re in a phase now where we’re simply running out of time. We need a National Firefighting Agency.”

The group said seven people have been arrested in connection with this week’s incidents.