Como Zoo is a small free zoo with a suggested $2 adult donation that is 3 miles Northwest of downtown St. Paul and 6 miles East of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The much larger Minnesota Zoo that serves the region is in a further suburb, so this zoo has a similar relationship to New York City with Central Park Zoo and Bronx Zoo, or Chicago with Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield Zoo. Como Park is the pleasant forested area in which it is located, and adjacent to its grounds are picnic areas, a carousel, and Como Town, a small kid-focused basic amusement park. The zoo is entered through a nice conservatory that is part of the facility, and can be toured in a general loop layout. Most of its collection is composed of mammals, housed in average to low-average habitats. The zoo does not seem ancient or ramshackle however, since most of the exhibit clusters are renovations or facilities that were new in the late 70’s or early 80’s. The zoo is certainly older than these, since the Administration Building is housed in a 1936 zoo building whose rows of bare brutal cages have been preserved on its exterior (they are empty); it is fun to see this history preserved, and to think that the humans now occupy the interior! The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory is a beautifully restored Victorian greenhouse filled with tropical palms that serves as one of the two main entrances. A side path from it leads to a nice outdoor Japanese garden, while some newer greenhouse wing additions feature ferns and bonsai. The older conservatory has been joined to the newer very modern Visitor Center to form one large complex that is currently the most impressive part of the zoo. The Visitor Center houses a modern and rather slick skylit atrium where the visitor services are located as well as a gift shop and café and entrance to a newer large conservatory called Tropical Encounters which is the most immersive exhibit complex at this zoo currently. Windows from the Visitor Center preview the Central and South American focus that lies inside, and a set of doors leads to the looping path through it. It is a lush environment, skylit with a complex angular arrangement of ceiling forms, with a stream and pond in the middle and humid environment for its collection of live plants. Graphics emulate field research notes very successfully, sometimes this style becomes hard to read elsewhere. The pond is exposed with a low clear curved railing in one part for underwater views of South American freshwater stingray; some unidentified turtles also occupy it. Next is a room behind glass with underwater viewing into a shallow pond for anaconda. The room is nicely detailed, framed by simulated tree trunks and topped by bromeliads. A rustic shelter is entered after that, which houses 5 exhibits. One is a medium naturalistic open-top tank with underwater viewing for pacu, arowana, and arapaima. The other 4 are small terrarium enclosures for Surinam toad, poison dart frog, salmon pink tarantula, and rainbow boa. Each one is made to look like a temporary makeshift study habitat: the boa is in a large plastic icechest with its lid open and covered with a window, for instance. Next is a massive simulated tree buttress that has been cut to reveal its core. Inside is a small hollow behind glass for tailless whip scorpion, and next to it is an exposed tunnel network for leafcutter ant; they can gather leaves from a terrarium connected by a tube to their main habitat. After a few more curves in the path, a simulated tree is the display habitat for Hoffmans two-toed sloth. This is a keeper or docent-observed habitat, since it provides very close unobstructed viewing and the sloth can climb down off the tree onto the ground and path if it chooses; if so, it must be lifted back onto the tree. The entire room is a free flight aviary as well, occupied by about 15 species, mostly bright tanagers. Marjorie McNeely Conservatory entrance: After exiting the Visitor Center and conservatories, the first exhibit is a large waterfowl lagoon with a rocky low waterfall feature. It was still drained when I visited but looked like a nice exhibit, and also has a flamingo area. On the backside is a small low chainlink fenced yard for Galapagos tortoise. Primates is a typical low concrete-and-wood exhibit building in the same style as several other buildings described later. Outside its entrance is a standard wire cage that was empty; I suspect it is used for various inhabitants of the building in warm weather. Also outside are two concrete-walled pit-like habitats with timber climbing structures, one for Sumatran orangutan, the other for Western lowland gorilla. The ground in each is grassy and studded with some rocks, but they are too small. Once inside, five small but attractively detailed rooms behind glass serve as exhibits for monkeys: one for blue-eyed black lemur, one for emperor tamarin, one for Geoffroys tamarin and white-faced saki, one for black-handed spider monkey (with viewing from the front and back), and one for DeBrazzas monkey. The last two are skylit and taller than they appear at first, since the height is not seen until right up at the window. Next are two larger rooms behind glass, for the orangutan and gorilla bedrooms. Again, these are detailed with simulated rock and tree trunks, but are rather small. Outside is a sign with a drawing of a proposed Gorilla Forest expansion and renovation that looks more promising. Western Lowland Gorilla outdoor exhibit: Seal Island is an older round open habitat with a rocky interior and shallow waterway for California sea lion, and can be divided into several habitats. It is adjacent to Sparky Amphitheater, the show name for their sea lion show in a stepped concrete outdoor arena with a tiny pool. The stage backdrop is a coastal mural on one side of the adjacent Aquatic Animals Building, similar in style to the Primates Building. Once inside, a brutal bedroom behind glass with cages and a small architectural pool form the habitat of Sparky, with access to the stage outside. Across the way is a larger room with a much larger pool and some simulated rockwork for California sea lion and harbor seal, this time behind a railing rather than glass. The middle of the room has three average small fish exhibits: one for African lake fish, one for archerfish, and one that I did not note but looked like it had carp and a stream on each side flowing into the larger pond tank. Two bird exhibits finish this unimpressive building, both behind glass: one for tufted puffin and one for black-footed penguin. At least both have clear deep pools with underwater viewing which are large in comparison to the small exhibit sizes. Seal Island: African Hoofed Stock is a series of three outdoor yards contained with low moats and low fencing which are surprisingly roomy in comparison to the small area of the zoo. There is a building composed of two indoor viewing pavilions for a total of 4 bedrooms, which are bright architectural spaces behind wire and glass railings with vaulted ceilings and no ornamentation. One pavilion is for lesser kudu and Grants zebra. Outside, their yard is shared with black-crowned crane. The other pavilion is for Grants zebra and reticulated giraffe, although they have separate outdoor yards. The zebra share with ostrich, and the giraffe have a weird steel structure for hanging browse. Lesser Kudu and Grants Zebra and Black-crowned Crane Exhibit with the African Hoofed Stock Building in the background: Wolf Woods is easy to miss since it appears to be native forest behind chainlink fencing. I forgot to note what species occupies it but it appears to be the best habitat at this zoo for the inhabitants. For visitors, it looks like the boundaries of the property. Large Cats is another exhibit building from the late 70’s. This one is two levels, with an indoor viewing gallery topped by an outdoor promenade. Happily, all four species displayed have outdoor enclosures. The two larger ones are for Siberian tiger and African lion, with decent grassy and rocky and tree-filled yards contained with vine-covered tall fencing. The lions are viewed from the upper outdoor walkways as well as their two average bedrooms in two rooms behind glass in the lower level interior. The tiger is viewed from the upper outdoor walkways and windows in the lower interior. There are also two interior window views of small outdoor yards for cougar and snow leopard; these habitats climb up to larger upper rocky areas enclosed with netting that are viewed on the upper promenade. While still too small, these latter two exhibits are roomier than they first appear. Shortly after I visited someone lifted their child up to the low planter next to the netting of the cougar exhibit and apparently got scratched by the cougar, and I can imagine it happening easily here. Of course this means an ugly patchwork of smaller gauge wire fabric will be installed for the first three feet from the ground to impede the view for all! Siberian Tiger Exhibit viewed from the interior of Large Cats Building: The final exhibit is an octagonal building with 5 chainlink-fenced plain yards surrounding it on 2 sides called Old Hoofed Stock Barn. They are boring expanses: one is empty, one for reindeer, one for Dalls sheep, and two for American bison. The North American selection makes sense however, since these yards directly face a new exhibit called Polar Bear Odyssey which will open in June. It was still behind construction fences and tarps when I visited, but its drawings promise what will be a comparatively fantastic addition to this zoo. Based on Tropical Encounters and the Visitor Center, and future plans for Gorilla Forest, it seems like this is a small zoo that is well-supported and has a promising future rather than a slow demise. None of its exhibit complexes or individual exhibits make my top lists, and its limited size and collection makes Como Zoo rank at #49 of the 55 zoos I have visited, but its price is hard to debate. It is an easy visit from this metro area; drop $5 in the donation box if visiting, knowing that it will help improve a zoo with good potential in its future. I have posted additional pictures in the gallery.
Yet another intriguing review, and I found it especially interesting due to the fact that I've never visited the small, free Como Zoo. I'm definitely looking forward to your comprehensive review of Minnesota Zoo, as I am particularly fond of that establishment and believe that it is one of the better zoos in North America.
Thank you for this detailed review, they are always informative and good to read and this one is particularly interesting as it's always nice to find out more about the less well known zoos.
When I decided to visit Minneapolis and St. Paul, I was not going to see Como Zoo originally but I saw that there were no photos of it in the gallery so I could not resist going to get 'the scoop'. Same for Underwater Adventures Aquarium. I am glad I saw both, but of course the main attraction was Minnesota Zoo and I am editing and organizing my photos of it currently. Once I am done with that I will write a review, which will be glowing, I am in love with the place!
This article has a fairly extensive history of the Como Zoo, and it also briefly mentions the idea of "Gorilla Forest" opening in 2012: St. Paul's Como Zoo is 113-years-old, still evolving | Minneapolis and St. Paul | kare11.com
It is rather interesting in that article that the small then-outdated Como Zoo in the late 1970's may have been able to survive after the modern Minnesota Zoo opened because it offered more intimate viewing experiences than the awesome - but underappreciated by many - big natural enclosures of its new suburban neighbor!
