Show you care this Valentine’s season with a very special delivery for the animal lovers in your life! Get your animal sponsorship sweetheart deal on this adorable trio of sloth, flamingo, or polar bear mini-plush—plus a Valentine’s card and gluten-free candy—for only $25. A great gift for nature lovers of all ages, sweeten the deal with two for just $45, or three for $65.

Please note, February 8 is the last day to order online for Valentine’s delivery.

For orders of two or more minis, please list additional animals in the comment field.

This season’s Winter Flower Show brings color and light into Minnesota’s most beautiful room

When Como Park Zoo & Conservatory posted a preview of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s new Winter Flower Show on social media, designer Isaac Zaman braced himself for a possible backlash: His first-ever flower show design coincided with the Conservatory’s plans to remove the Italian cypress that have long stood at the far end of the Sunken Garden.

“One of the issues we’ve always had with the Sunken Garden is that it’s not bright enough for many plants, and changing the room structurally actually lets in more light,” he says. “But we know people can get very attached to the way things have always been, so we were kind of nervous about what people would say. About half of the people who commented were like, ‘Why would you do that when they’ve been there forever?’, and the other half were like, ‘Oh, interesting…can’t wait to see what comes next.’”

The current Winter Flower Show, now on display through March 15, features a mix of old favorites and new featured plants, with a cool palette of South African veltheimia bulbs, lavender azaleas, pink and white camellias, tropical hibiscus, and more. “I wanted to pay homage to some of the history that’s happened in the room by bringing in some of our accent plants, jasmine topiaries and some lemon cypress. But I also wanted to move the room in a new direction where our interests can always be changing,” Zaman says.

One of the less familiar flowers visitors may notice are Love-in-a-Mist, Nigella damascena.

 “They’re a wonderful aromatic crop that also has these really funky flowers that look quite alien, and if they manage to go off and bloom in the room it’s going to be something very new,” he says. Visitors may also notice the brighter feel of the room, and vignette arrangements that invite viewers to take in the room at different elevations.

“My goal is to bring it all closer to the people, and to add vertical elements to the lower parts of the room that makes you appreciate the size of the space, and the light,” he says.

Behind the scenes at Como Zoo’s Animal Support Building, a cavy, a chicken, and a rabbit have created an unusual inter-species bond

One of the loudest, liveliest buildings on the campus of Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is one that visitors will never see. Located along the private service drive to Como’s back door is where you’ll find the Animal Support Building (ASB), home to nearly 200 individual animals representing more than 40 species. 

“It’s actually the most diverse collection of animals we have in one place,” keeper Brooke Johnson says about the ASB’s colorful array of residents, from the squawking pink flamingos waiting out winter in the central heating, to the tiny Panamanian golden frogs tucked away in a biosecure room. While the birds, reptiles, invertebrates, and mammals that make their home here come from all around the world, the common denominator that unites them is advanced age. “Some of them are animal ambassadors that retired from our education programs,” she says. “Although they are not all older, it’s a bit like a 55-plus community.” 

Of course, the demands of high-density, apartment-style living can make for some roommate arrangements you’d never see in nature. For instance, the Chilean flamingos that fly far below the equator share their space with several red-breasted geese that breed in the Siberian tundra. Hissing cockroaches from Madagascar live next to tarantulas from Brazil. But the strangest bedfellows in the building would have to be this threesome: Jasper, a rabbit, Bowie, a chicken, and “Cavy Crockett,” a Patagonian cavy, a hare-sized rodent from the guinea pig family. 

“A few years ago, we noticed that when they were allowed to roam, they tended to gravitate to the same spots and hang out together, and we found that when we moved them all in together, it just worked out,” says keeper Allison Pizel, adding that the communal living arrangement may be familiar to each of them. “Cavies live together in big groups in the wild, and domestic chickens tend to live in groups, and rabbits live in colonies, but here, they’re each the only one of their kind,” she says. 

The oldest of the trio is Cavy, age 13, who is now deaf, blind, and prone to stepping on Jasper the rabbit as he explores his environment. Their keepers report that while there is occasional squabbling, Bowie, the alpha chicken, keeps the peace and sets the boundaries. On occasion, the three animals can even be found curled up together in the morning. “It’s not the recommended arrangement, but it seems to work for all of them,” says Pizel. “And with animals this old, we want to keep things stable for all of them.”

In fact, geriatric care is a big part of the day in the ASB, which also includes many animals like Sassy the chinchilla, who were retired from the zoo’s ambassador animal program when it came to an end during the pandemic. Instead, Como made the pivot to virtual programs that allowed classrooms to see and learn from animal ambassadors online, while allowing resident animals to make their own choices about whether or not to visit other parts of the zoo. Como Zoo recently completed a formal assessment to determine which animals would participate in the animal ambassador program, based on their ability to travel safely and comfortably to other areas of Como. The program includes species-appropriate stations and enrichment designed to ensure animals remain comfortable in environments outside their normal habitat.

For instance, when Dilla the six-banded armadillo is looking for some excitement, she’s trained to step on a green mat in her habitat that indicates she’s up for being handled. Check out this video on Facebook of her holiday visit to the Sunken Garden, helping horticulturists dig up the soil before the Holiday Flower Show. When she chooses to sit on her red mat, her keepers know she would prefer to stay home and chill. The communication between Dilla and her favorite keeper runs even deeper: Johnson is such a fan of the armadillo that she helped get Dilla moved to Como Zoo from another AZA institution. The pair have known each other for more than 13 years.  

“We form real bonds with these animals because we’re with them more than our pets at home,” she explains, adding that keepers are always looking for ways to delight the animals in their care. To that end, Johnson and Pizel recently applied to Como’s animal enrichment committee for funding—supported by your contributions to Como Friends—to bring an oversized cat exercise wheel into Dilla’s habitat. “You wouldn’t believe how fast she can run, and then she goes back to sleeping for 18 hours a day,” says Johnson. “The hard part is that many of these animals are very old and they won’t be with us forever. But while they are, we want to make things as good as we can for them.”

A Letter from Como Friends President Katie Hill

Protecting and Improving One of Minnesota’s Most Iconic Institutions 

With nearly two million annual visitors in 2025, Como is Minnesota’s most visited cultural institution. Your contributions help us keep pace with maintaining and improving every corner of Como’s well-loved campus, from upgrading the sound system in Como Zoo’s bustling Aquatics Building, to improving the landscaping around Gorilla Forest, to bringing natural light into the small monkey habitats. 

Fostering Empathy Through Education

Did you know that knowing a zoo animal by name, and as an individual, can inspire conservation-minded behavior long after you’ve left Como? That’s one of the findings within a growing body of research about empathy-focused education, a nationwide movement that counts Como’s innovative education department as a leading partner. From the free field trips now offered to second- and fourth-grade classrooms across the Saint Paul school district, to the planning process behind updating the Leonard Wilkening Children’s Gallery, your support helps spark excitement about the natural world. By funding scholarships for school group programs and summer camps, your support also removes economic barriers to education, empowering the next generation to be great stewards of the natural world. 

Keeping the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory Growing

It takes nearly 10,000 bulbs to bring the Sunken Garden into full bloom for the Spring Flower Show, and that’s just one of five rotating shows Como visitors come to see every year. That’s why contributions to Como Friends are so important, providing for the purchase of new plant materials, shipping costs for new tropical plants and palm trees, and other specialized plant care materials. This year, your support also helped replace the grow lights in Como’s working Orchid House, and the purchase of additional planters to expand campus floral displays through all four seasons.

Compassionate Care for Animals at Como Zoo

Have you seen Chloe the sloth’s new habitat features? The new installations allow Como’s free-ranging sloth to spend more of her time in Tropical Encounters, while keeping her safe from contact with visitors. Investments like this help Como Zoo provide more compassionate care for more than 1,000 animals, supporting everything from a new zero grade pool installation for future grey seal pups, to a portable anesthesia machine and a forced air Bair Hugger system to provide even more on-site veterinary care to elderly animals like Nan and Neil, two of the oldest polar bears in North America. Whether it’s buying more specialized vet supplies, supporting endangered Wyoming toads, or ordering fun new enrichment toys for young polar bears Astra and Kulu, your support helps keep Como Zoo’s animals healthy and curious. 

As you can see, contributions of every size are valued at Como, and invested in the animals, plants, and programs that inspire nearly two million annual visitors. Thank you for all you do for Como!

Katie Hill

President

P.S. When you become a member of Como Friends, you’ll be invited to great events and experiences that give you an inside look at Como, including a special Blaze Sparky Show just for supporters, coming up on May 30, 2026. Hope to see you there! 

Astra the polar bear’s recent arrival at Como Zoo is part of an international effort to increase breeding success for this vulnerable species

When new animals arrive at Como Zoo, they typically meet their assigned roommates through a process zookeepers call a “Howdy”—a chance to see, hear, and smell the resident animals on the other side of a steel mesh barrier. The initial step before a full-on introduction, these first impressions can give keepers important clues about how animals on both sides of the mesh might be feeling about the meeting. 

But when Como Zoo’s two youngest polar bears, Astra and Kulu, had their first howdy this fall, their behavior made it clear they were eager to get even closer. “They seemed to be really wanting to play together,” says aquatics keeper Kelley Dinsmore, part of a behind-the-scenes team that’s been watching the bears’ every move since four-year-old Astra’s (She just turned five on November 17) arrival in October from Tacoma’s Port Defiance Zoo. “They’d be laying at the howdy doors near each other, and trying to pass toys through the mesh, so we had a very good feeling that we could just go ahead and introduce these two, since they seemed to want to be near each other.” 

During their first encounter outdoors at Polar Bear Odyssey in early November, Kulu chased Astra around the habitat, eventually following her in a belly flop right into the deep pool. “There was never any aggression,” says keeper Becky Sievers. “They just played, and if he stopped chasing her, she would turn to see if he was still coming. They put on a really good show for everyone.”

It’s a population that Jungheim knows well in her role as program leader and studbook keeper for North America’s polar bears, where she tracks the genetic health and history of 56 individuals living in partner zoos across Canada and the U.S. A project of the Bear Taxon Advisory Group through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the studbook is one of the ways that zoos work together to ensure that managed populations of polar bears are living their best lives. Another is the new Polar Bear Population Alliance (PBPA), a collaborative network launched last November, that’s been making new breeding recommendations across the country, including the new match between Astra and Kulu. 

“The Polar Bear Population Alliance is working to make sure that polar bears are going to be here in the future by increasing the number of polar bear cubs born annually to achieve a sustainable population,” says Jungheim, who is both a founding member of the PBPA and serves on the PBPA’s Polar Bear Management Group (PBMG).  One of the group’s first priorities is to move reproductive-age females like Astra into optimal breeding spaces like Polar Bear Odyssey. The next is to create additional pairings with other females, preferably with one male for every two females. 

“The hope is that having two females will create competition, and get these bears going reproductively forward when breeding season comes around late winter,” she says. “Polar bears that have been housed together during the summer have proven to be more successful, while bears that have a history of contraception—a common practice when the polar bear population was larger—have been less successful.”  

While data points like that are helping to determine where the zoo population’s reproductive bears should move in the months ahead, there’s no guarantee that every pairing will be successful. Not only do polar bears reproduce through delayed implantation, new cubs also have a 50 percent mortality rate during their first year. Even so, Como’s keepers are encouraged by the positive and playful behavior they’re observing from Astra and Kulu, though breeding behavior may take some time. 

“It may take these two young, innocent bears a little bit of time to get it right, but that’s something we’ve seen with many other animals at Como,” Jungheim says. “Nature always finds a way.”

With expanding school partnerships, a refreshed curriculum, and a new strategic plan, Como’s education department is rising to meet the needs of our next generation

As teachers will tell you, making the transition back to school can be tough. Even at summer camp, encountering new faces, new friends, and new surroundings can be stressful for many children—not to mention their parents.

That’s why Como’s education department just piloted a new program during Como’s sold-out summer camp season designed to build even better relationships between Como and the nearly 500 families it served through the 12-week session. Through a new staff position, Como Cares Specialist Ruthie Schneider reached out to enrolled families each week to find out if incoming campers could use some extra support to make their summer camp experience a success.

“It’s a way of building a relationship with families, and making parents and campers feel reassured that we have their backs,” says Schneider, a former Como Zoo keeper who leapt at the chance to return to campus this summer after making a career shift into special education. From managing inhalers and EpiPens, to asking parents for their best advice for helping kids on the autism spectrum adjust to new routines, Schneider’s multi-layered position is equal parts educator, counselor, school nurse, and resident problem-solver, supporting Como’s summer camp instructors by tending to kids who may need more time and attention from a trusted adult.

“It’s been a conversation in the camp field for a while, and especially after COVID, that we’ve been seeing more kids showing up at camp who need additional support,” says Bekah Hanes, Como’s Education & Conservation Curator. “In the past, if there was a camper or two who were struggling, it could take the whole class off track. But with this role, we have the resources, and this extra pair of hands, to help make the camp experience more meaningful for everyone. It’s been a complete game changer.”

Improving Access and Engagement 

The new Como Cares specialist role is just a small piece in a much larger initiative aimed at meeting the growing needs of the more than 700,000 school-age visitors who come to Como each year. Driven by a new strategic plan supported by Como Friends that was based on feedback from parents and community partners and new findings about best practice strategies for promoting conservation education with kids, many of Como’s education offerings are being reimagined to improve accessibility and engagement with kids of all ages and abilities.

For instance, the weekly free Little Explorers program for preschoolers, funded by Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment, has been updated with more opportunities for imaginative play and activities that encourage kids to get to know different animals, plants, and the natural world. “It used to include a lot of activities and laminated sheets where kids had to have a parent helping out,” says Program Specialist Erin Dimond. “Now with more manipulative things like animal figurines and play stations, kids are showing their parents how they want to play and learn.”

Improving access for kids with sensory differences is also part of the plan. Once a month, Como opens an hour early for Sensory Friendly Mornings, allowing youth with autism, anxiety, ADHD, and other conditions and their families extra time to explore Como without the crowds. The current program also includes a social narrative that gives families an idea of what to expect on their visit, and Como is partnering with AuSM and Fraser to implement even more sensory-friendly modifications and strategies. For the deaf and hard of hearing, an engaging and kid-friendly American Sign Language interpreter supports the story-time portion of Little Explorers every Thursday, and travels across the Zoo and Conservatory to interpret public talks throughout the day.

With growing demand for Como’s summer camps, Como Friends and Como Park Zoo & Conservatory also combined forces to continue improving the camp experience, and to make it more accessible for more families. This spring, Como Friends expanded its commitment to summer camp scholarships by more than 50 percent, funding that made it possible to provide a week-long Camp Como experience to about 50 elementary-age campers. At the same time, Como tested out a new staffing model, recruiting veteran classroom teachers to apply for short three- to six-week terms within the seasonal summer camp program. “In the past, we hired college students who were looking for classroom experience,” Hanes says, “but by hiring professional teachers who want a fun summer gig, we’re also getting the benefit of their experience and their great classroom management skills.”

Back-to-School Partnerships

Now that school is back in session, Como’s education department is turning its attention to expanding school partnerships. After a successful pilot program last winter, Como’s popular Residency Program will fire up this fall, offering on-site experiences for third grade classrooms around the Twin Cities, and off-site programs for third graders across the state.

Made possible with funding from Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment, the free on-site program provides for both transportation costs to Como and a multi-day, multi-disciplinary curriculum where Como’s animals and plants become the backdrop for arts, language, and science learning, as well as early experiences with nature. “Even though local schools participate in Residency, many students have never been to Como before,” says Residency Education Specialist Katie Raeker, “That’s why we find ways to not only connect students to nature, but also to Como’s unique and lovable plants and animals. It’s really fun to show them around and to see their faces the first time they see a giraffe, or watch a sea lion swimming in the water.”

To reach outstate classrooms, the Residency Program hits the road, allowing a Como residency specialist to relocate for a week in Greater Minnesota, with a carload of conservation topics, art projects, and other activities for third grade classrooms. Following a pilot season that traveled to such communities as Grand Rapids, Melrose, Hinckley, and Faribault, the program got strong marks from participating classroom teachers. “One thing we’re hearing is that they really appreciate our multi-modal approach with our curriculum,” says Residency Coordinator Madeline McCullough. “There’s movement throughout the day, videos and slideshows, class discussions, and very tactile experiences with biofacts and plants. The curriculum makes them feel supported, and it works to reach many different types of learners.” Another strength of the program: all of Como’s Residency Program educators are former classroom teachers, skilled at shaping lesson plans to fit the needs of participating classrooms.

Closer to home, Como is doubling down on its popular second grade field trip partnership with St. Paul Public Schools, funded by Como Friends. For years, the program has made it possible to invite every second grade classroom in the district to Como with free transportation and a free program called “Plant Detectives” that introduces young learners to collecting data, using their senses, and making observations about the natural world. Starting this fall, the program will expand to include St. Paul’s fourth grade classrooms as well, with a new animal-focused curriculum.

“One of the exciting things about the new fourth grade partnership is that we’ll be highlighting some of our Conservation Champion projects from over the years, showing fourth graders a little bit of the conservation work our own staff has done, and connecting it to the animals that live at Como Zoo,” says Tim Buer, Como’s education coordinator. The station-based class will comprise five conservation themes for fourth graders to explore, through engaging content that highlights first-person experiences like Senior Keeper Jill Erzar’s trips to Africa to support giraffe conservation in the wild and Aquatics Keeper Kelley Dinsmore’s experience rehabilitating injured and orphaned penguins on the coast of South Africa. “We’re using a see, learn, and do model with stations that students can visit, each with a different conservation theme,” Buer says, all while students learn more about the people behind Como’s plants and animals.

While the curriculum is designed to fit the growing needs of fourth grade students, Buer says it’s also meant to teach a critical lesson about Como—that it belongs to the whole community. “Building a sense of ownership and connection at Como is one of our goals, so it’s always been our hope to create a program for older kids,” he says, noting that repeat trips to Como are the key to those relationships. “Return visitors are important at Como, and none are more important than our next generation of St. Paul students.”

With help from a Conservation Champions grant, Como horticulturists are calling attention to one of Minnesota’s most valuable and vulnerable ecosystems.

With its glossy leaves and deep red and purple coloring, the pitcher plant is one of Minnesota’s most captivating natives. So captivating, in fact, that when insects are drawn into its invitingly vase-like body, they soon discover there’s no way out. Tiny, down-drafting hairs inside the plant make it impossible for prey to find purchase before being drowned and digested by this carnivorous plant. 

Native to Minnesota’s peatlands, pitcher plants are just one of the fascinating featured players in a trio of “mini bogs” floating this season in the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s Water Gardens. Created by Como horticulturists Bo Akinkuotu and Victoria Housewright, these miniature peatlands—and new interpretive signage nearby—are part of a larger Como Friends’ Conservation Champions project designed to call attention to the beauty, diversity, and environmental benefits of the region’s expansive bogs. 

A Growing Partnership

One of the best places to see this unique ecosystem is in northern Minnesota’s Sax-Zim Bog, a three-hundred square mile peatland about an hour’s drive northwest of Duluth. Well known to birders who flock there to see northern owls, warblers, finches, and other boreal birds, the bog is just as impressive for its diverse plant life, which includes more than 750 species of wildflowers and terrestrial plants, trees, shrubs, grasses, mosses, and ferns.

“Bogs are having a moment and this is definitely one to see, so we came up with the idea of building a partnership with the Friends of the Sax-Zim Bog, a support organization like Como Friends,” says Housewright. Together, Housewright and Akinkuotu wrote a Conservation Champions request proposing a donation to help the organization buy additional land to conserve, as well as the opportunity to bring home a sampling of the bog’s most interesting plants to expand Como’s educational collections. “We wanted it to be a partnership. They’re the ones with the expertise and resources to protect and preserve the bog,” she says, “and here at Como we have nearly two million annual visitors that we can help get excited not just about this incredible ecosystem, but also about why conserving bogs matters so much for climate change.”

All Sax-Zim Bog photographs taken by Naturalist Kelly Beaster

Wild Collecting for Como

In June, the pair traveled north to work with a naturalist at Sax-Zim Bog who helped them to identify and wild collect some of the peatland’s most notable species, like pitcher plants and sundews, leatherleaf and bog bean, pink lady’s slippers and heart-leaved twayblade. To minimize impact on other plants, the pair took only tiny samples and cuttings. “You can’t really dig in an environment as soggy as that—instead you’re just gently untangling roots from one plant to the next,” Akinkuotu explains.

The team took home nearly 60 individual plants that are now taking root behind the scenes in Como’s 30,000-square-foot greenhouse. Once established, Akinkuotu says he’s looking forward to incorporating more of these bog beauties beyond the Water Garden, where the “mini bogs” have already been a big hit with visitors—and with volunteer ducks who’ve been caught nestling in the moss, grasses, and pitcher plants. 

“Even at this scale, you can see these mini bogs creating their own little biomes. We come out here to care for them every day and discover new spiders that have started webbing, more and more bugs that are attracted to these plants, and little tadpoles and frogs that will actually move in,” he says. “By bringing a little more attention to the Sax-Zim Bog, we want people to see how special these places are—and to know that conservation isn’t just something that happens far away. It’s right here at home.”

Bog plants in order of appearance: bog bean, bog rosemary, pitcher plant, bog laurel, star flower, Labrador tea, sundew, lantern sedge, cotton grass

Como Friends’ board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Hill as its next president, effective July 14, 2025.

Como Friends’ board of directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Hill as its next president, effective July 14, 2025. Hill succeeds Jackie Sticha, whose 25 years of visionary leadership transformed Como Friends into a nationally recognized model for public-private partnership and helped secure a vibrant, accessible future for Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.

The current vice president of engagement and chief innovation officer at Milkweed Editions, Hill has consistently reimagined how the public connects with such treasured civic institutions as the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

“Katie brings a rare blend of creativity, strategy, and heart,” says Andy Davis, board chair of Como Friends. “She understands what it means to lead with purpose and partnership. Her deep roots in the Twin Cities, her passion for equity and access, and her track record of innovation make her exactly the right leader to guide Como Friends into its next chapter.”

A lifelong Saint Paul resident and longtime Como champion, Hill brings a personal commitment to Como’s future. “Como is where I bring my kids to explore, reflect, and recharge. It’s not just a place—it’s a living ecosystem of wonder, learning, and belonging,” she says. “I’m honored to join Como Friends at this important moment and excited to reimagine how communities connect with public cultural spaces.”

Prior to joining Milkweed Editions—a nationally respected independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry—Hill spent more than a decade in art museum communications, digital strategy, and public engagement. She launched her career in innovation as creator of the first Internet Cat Video Film Festival at the Walker Art Center in 2012. Hill moved on to help launch the practice of audience engagement at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where she headed the engagement strategy department and oversaw the marketing operation. Hill holds a BA in English language and literature from Kenyon College, and an MA in art history from the University of St. Thomas.

Selected after an extensive search conducted by Ballinger | Leafblad, Hill will join Como Friends in July. Como Friends supporters will have their first chance to connect with Hill on July 17 at Sunset Affair, the organization’s annual summer gala. The nonprofit fundraising partner to Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Como Friends has delivered more than $54 million in private contributions to Minnesota’s most visited cultural destination, safeguarding the free admission policy Como’s 1.9 million annual visitors value.

As she prepares to retire this year, founding president Jackie Sticha looks back on 25 years with Como Friends 

Nearly every day, Como Friends President Jackie Sticha takes a walk around the grounds of Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, but those first bright days of spring are always her favorites. “There’s really nothing like being at Como on a beautiful busy day, with thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages, tourists and teenagers, senior citizens, families and kids on field trips,” she says. “I often overhear conversations that are quite inspiring, or that make me chuckle. And I love the way the whole place buzzes with energy.” 

The long-tenured president of Como Friends, Sticha can claim credit for a lot of that buzz. Since the organization’s founding in 2000, she’s led annual fundraising strategy, advocacy initiatives, and three successful capital campaigns that have contributed $52 million in new funding for the historic Como Zoo and the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory and leveraged an additional $50 million in state funds made possible through Como Friends’ advocacy work. These funds have had a big impact, creating new classroom space that serves thousands of students every year; unveiling cutting-edge habitats like Como Harbor, Polar Bear Odyssey, and The Ordway Gardens; and expanding programs that connect visitors to the wonders of the living world. 

But 25 years ago, as an early hire of the newly formed Como Zoo and Conservatory Society, a merger of four different nonprofits and docent groups, Sticha’s first job was figuring out how to establish a strong public/private partnership that could protect the future of one of the Twin Cities’ most beloved institutions. “With 100 years of history, nearly everyone has a memory of coming to Como as a child, with their children, with their grandchildren,” she says. “Another strength was the passion and knowledge and commitment of the Zoo and Conservatory staff, and their vision for what could make Como even better.”

With strong support from the city and its parks department, an engaged board of directors, and such visionary volunteer leaders as Leonard Wilkening, Arlene Scheunemann, Bob Piram, and Paul Verret, the Society (renamed Como Friends in 2008) launched a major capital campaign to unite the Zoo and Conservatory through the Visitor Center, and to provide much-needed updates to the historic campus with new spaces for animal support, plant collections and administration. “What drew me is that this was a brand new organization with some really big ideas,” she says. “We all had to build new relationships to move forward, and while we definitely made mistakes along the way, it was often out of an excess of enthusiasm for what was possible.”  

During the most challenging times, Como Friends’ first board chair, the late Leonard Wilkening, would give Sticha this advice: “Just give it five years, and it will all work out.” His timeline was prophetic—within the first five years of their partnership, Como Friends and Como Park Zoo and Conservatory unveiled the new Visitor Center, Tropical Encounters, the new Fern Room and the first ever Orchid House to the public, with behind-the-scenes improvements that included a new Animal Support Building and administrative offices retrofitted in Como Zoo’s iconic WPA-era building. “As we all began working together, we started having more and more success,” Sticha says. “But unveiling the Visitor Center was the real turning point, because it was the first visual demonstration of what the future at Como would look like.”

Since then, Como Friends has led the charge on two additional capital campaigns, one for Como Harbor, and another to create Polar Bear Odyssey and The Ordway Gardens. Como Friends also secured the major gift that renamed the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, and a $1 million endowment to create a permanent source of support for the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden. 

During Sticha’s tenure, Como Friends finished each fiscal year with an operating surplus and increased the annual contribution to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Como Friends’ steady growth provided stability for Como, creating a dependable source for their annual operations and funding for ongoing improvements. 

When public funding for Gorilla Forest was threatened, Como Friends expanded its profile to include advocacy work, joining Como each legislative season to support the campus’s role as both a community asset and an economic powerhouse that welcomes nearly two million visitors each year—the largest audience for any cultural institution in the state. Como Friends also successfully diversified its revenue streams with a mix of popular fundraising events like Bouquets, Sunset Affair, and Como After Hours; strong relationships with foundations and corporate funders; growing individual giving programs; and a successful gift shop operation, Garden Safari Gifts. “We’ve grown and learned a lot since our early years, but we’re still a relatively small team for the amount of money we raise, and for the extensive retail operation that we have, but we have a smart and nimble staff who are so innovative and creative in coming up with solutions for how we can be successful, and then working together to execute them,” Sticha says.

As she looks ahead to retiring this summer, Sticha says many of her favorite memories were made learning from supporters energized by their love of plants and animals, and working with families who have passed their commitment to Como from one generation to the next. She also thinks often of community leaders like Wilkening; the late Nancy Nelson, who raised funds for the Polar Bear Odyssey campaign with her husband Russ; and fundraising consultant Jim Scarpetta and others who were instrumental in making Como Friends’ vision a reality. “Every time we finish a new project, I think how pleased they would be to see how much progress Como has made.” She also thinks about some of her favorite animal ambassadors, including the late Amanda the orangutan, who once spiced up a behind-the-scenes tour by spitting a mouthful of water and orangutan kibble in Sticha’s direction. “Orangutans can hold a lot of water in their mouths, so it was like walking into a lake,” she laughs. “But I wasn’t offended at all. I felt like she’d chosen me.”  

As Como Friends looks ahead to announcing the appointment of its next leader, she has some advice for her successor: “Have fun. Being at a job for 25 years is a long time to be in one place, but I’ve never been bored because Como is so dynamic, with living animals and gardens that are always changing and evolving. Between our staff, our board, and our donors, there are so many wonderful people connected to Como and it’s fun working with them, and working together for something that is so meaningful to our community.” 

As studbook keeper for polar bears, Allison Jungheim preserves the health and genetics of North America’s most majestic species

When she shares observations about the polar bears in her care, Senior Keeper Allison Jungheim can sound like she’s talking about her closest friends, bubbling about Nan’s bossy behavior, bragging about Kulu’s impressive weight gain (“At 940 pounds, we should probably stop calling him little Kulu”), and beaming at Neil, the mild-mannered male who first came to Como Zoo with his brother Buzz back in 2001. “He is my bear,” she says. 

Jungheim brings the same enthusiasm to her role as studbook keeper for North America’s polar bears, responsible for tracking the genetic health and history of some 60 individuals living in partner zoos across Canada and the U.S. A project of the Bear Taxon Advisory Group through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the studbook is one of the ways that zoos work together to ensure that managed populations of polar bears are living their best lives. 

Similar to your family’s own electronic medical records that allow for more coordinated health care, “keeping all of that data in one place is super important for the longevity of animals,” Jungheim says. “The studbook also gives me the ability to look back at historic animals and current animals, to see who’s related to whom, and who should breed with whom.” 

While Como Zoo’s keepers have earned national recognition for their success at reducing polar bear repetitive behaviors and developing tools for improving polar bear blood draws, Jungheim’s longtime leadership in polar bear preservation is a volunteer effort. “I don’t get any extra money or funding for managing the polar bear studbook, but it’s worth it to be part of the bigger picture, helping polar bears around the country, and not just here at Como.”

Polar bears require just the right conditions for successful breeding, both in zoos and in the wild. While polar bears will typically mate in early spring, they’re one of more than 130 animal species with delayed implantation, meaning that fertilized eggs don’t implant in the uterus until months later. The delay allows females to build up the fat reserves they’ll need to support themselves and their cubs during a long denning period. “But if the female doesn’t gain enough weight, or have good enough body condition, she may not implant that embryo or embryos at all,” explains Jungheim. The long dormancy period means that if one breeding pair is unsuccessful, zoos don’t have much time to establish a new pairing. 

“That’s one reason why collaboration with other zoos is so important,” she says, noting that the polar bear community of keepers, managers, and veterinary staff have regular virtual meetings throughout the year, sharing breeding and denning news, and exploring new strategies. “One of the things we’re trying is to create more choice for mates by pairing more than just one male and one female,” she says. “Our thought is that by giving mate choice, it gives the male the chance to share the love with other females, and increases competition for breeding, and hopefully, increases success rates.” 

With that strategy in mind, Como Zoo is getting ready to welcome a new female bear from a partner zoo, who might make a good breeding partner for Kulu. “With an aging population of bears, we’re trying to shake things up,” Jungheim says. If the pairing works, she may even have a couple of new names to add to the polar bear studbook.

Funding from Como Friends enabled Allison Jungheim to travel to attend an in-person polar bear conference, strengthening the network of connections zoos rely on to help bears live their best lives.