Dinosaurs to supercrocs: Niger’s bone keepers preserve its ancient fossils | Arts and Culture

Niamey, Niger – In a corner of the sprawling grounds of Niamey’s only museum – a unique, open-air style arrangement in Niger’s capital that doubles as a zoo – imposing fossil replicas of long-extinct animals stand in a corrugated iron stall.

On a recent late Friday afternoon, the Boubou Hama National Museum was busy with scores of excited children. They shrilled, delighted by the rubbery grunts of the hippos near the replicas, and the faint roars of the lions further up.