After a major meet-cute in Polar Bear Odyssey this fall, young polar bears Astra and Kulu have been giving serious rom-com vibes—diving, chasing, frolicking, and cozying up to each other on the regular. While zookeepers are seeing plenty of green flags in the lead-up to the polar bear breeding season that starts this month, this match is just one of many playing out behind the scenes at Como Zoo, through its active role in a variety of Species Survival Plan (SSP) projects in cooperation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). By coordinating the individual animals matched up through SSP breeding recommendations, Como Zoo works in partnership with other AZA institutions to maintain a genetically diverse and demographically stable captive population of threatened or endangered animals. While bearing young is an important part of a healthy life cycle for zoo animals and wild ones, these pairings also provide captive animals with companionship that can enrich their lives.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we talked with Senior Keeper Jill Erzar about what makes a great partnership, whatever your species:

Taking it slow: Ollie and Stevie, and Meadow,
Sago and Ziggy

Unlike the polar bears and other animals that come from harsh climates that dictate their optimal mating moments, Erzar says, “nyalas tend to breed like rabbits.” Even so, Ollie, a new male bachelor recently arrived from the BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo, may need a little time to warm up to his new breeding partners, Stevie and Meadow. Stevie is the mother of Meadow, born in 2024. “He’s never been with another female besides his own mother,” Erzar explains. “Ollie is very alert, and Stevie seems very interested, so we’ll have to see what happens with each of the females.” 

Speaking of slow, Como Zoo’s sloth pair, Sago and Ziggy, have successfully mated once, and zookeepers continue to remain optimistic that they will again, following last year’s on-exhibit birth of an infant that sadly did not survive. While Como Zoo always hopes for new babies, zookeepers are encouraged by previous successes and moments that support the long-term future of each species, and take great care to ensure every animal has the space, privacy, and calm they need during these important mating stages. “We weren’t surprised that she gave birth—we were expecting that,” Erzar says. “But sloths are more reclusive and will typically give birth overnight.” 

Keeping it playful: Maji and Mumford

Introduced as a breeding pair in 2019, Como Zoo’s male and female lions are happily bonded, though they’ve had no offspring. While Mumford is in hospice care for an inoperable nasal tumor, he and Maji continue to wrestle, play, and cuddle up together. The only real bone of contention between them, says Erzar, is Mumford’s “comfort log,” a bit of deadfall that the lion refuses to share with Maji or his keepers. “We call it his comfort log because we first started noticing that he’d carry it around if there was a storm coming, or if he was a little nervous about something,” she says. “Over time it’s been whittled down, so for a while it looked like a dumbbell, and now it’s broken into two pieces that he protects. It’s kind of adorable.”

Attention to good grooming:
Ombe and Wicket

While breeding behavior has yet to be observed between ring-tailed lemurs Ombe and Wicket, “they do sleep together and groom each other,” Erzar says. “They’re definitely companionable.”

Making beautiful music together: Houdini and Mutambi

As light on their feet as Fred and Ginger, grey crowned cranes Houdini and Mutambi have been delighting Como visitors with their ritualistic courtship dances, bowing and leaping into the air as a sign of their mutual interest in each other. “They also do a kind of call and response vocalizing, parroting back and forth, with a kind of trumpeting sound,” says Erzar. While the pair has yet to produce a viable chick, early fertility challenges are typical of new pairings of cranes, which often mate for life in the wild. “We’re pretty confident they’re going to figure it out,” she says.

Sharing the child care: Reggie and Ilsa 

Emperor tamarins Reggie and Ilsa have also mated successfully, resulting in the arrival of baby Bleu last March. Male tamarins are known for being highly engaged fathers, often assisting with birth, taking and washing the infant immediately after birth, and frequently carrying the infant to let the mothers recover and nurse. Communal rearing behavior like this even extends to future siblings like Bleu, who can be expected to do plenty of babysitting.

You can’t hurry love: Mr. Pancake, Peanut Butter, and Banana 

Like all of Como Zoo’s breeding companions, this trio of pancake tortoises, now living behind the scenes, are under no pressure to reproduce. While they’re part of a Species Survival Plan breeding recommendation (and have names that would make a great breakfast), keepers don’t do anything special to encourage mating behavior between animals, allowing nature to take its course. “We’re very hands-off with them,” says Erzar. “If they want to lay eggs, they can lay eggs. Whatever happens with the pancake tortoises is great.”

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! 

Como Zoo aquarist Gina Julio fulfilled a lifelong dream as a Conservation Champion, traveling to Fiji to support marine conservation in the South Pacific reef

From  trout to tuna, marlins to mahi mahi, Gina Julio really knows her fish.

One of Como Zoo’s team of aquarists, Julio is responsible for the care and feeding of dozens and dozens of underwater denizens, including epaulette sharks, lionfish, sea anemones, and even a bright orange lobster who goes by the name of “Ryan.” 

“All areas of zookeeping have specific challenges, but I find the math and chemistry required to take care of fish to be really fascinating,” says Julio. “Also, once you start getting to know fish, you find out they’re so smart, and have great little personalities.”

Being on a first-name basis with so many different species made Julio a very valuable addition to a marine conservation initiative in the South Pacific run by GVI, a travel-based conservation organization. As part of Como Friends’ Conservation Champions program, Julio recently traveled to  Dawasamu, Fiji, to help support a variety of projects the group operates in the area, ranging from preserving the coral reef, to protecting spinner dolphins, reef sharks, and sea turtles. 

As a support volunteer at GVI, Julio helped a corps of primarily college-aged interns dive into their first experiences with conservation fieldwork. For two weeks, she took part in a range of work, from surveying the health of mangrove forests, to studying the challenges of establishing sustainable fisheries for local communities. Her favorite contribution was creating a detailed fish identification guide that will allow the group to collect even better data about the health of the South Pacific reef. “And I made it waterproof, so they can actually use it underwater,” she says. 

As part of the trip, Julio also immersed herself in the life of a small fishing village, seeing firsthand how thoughtful conservation projects can benefit wildlife and the local populations that depend on them. “Staying in this small fishing village, we became a part of the community, going to church and going to community events with our hosts,” she says. “As an anthropology minor in college, I loved the chance to learn more about Fiji’s culture.”

Seeing the South Pacific was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Julio, who made frequent trips to Como Zoo as a kid. Though she once imagined herself taking care of large cats, internships at Duluth’s Great Lakes Aquarium inspired her with the beauty and diversity of life underwater. “When I started my internship, I was actually kind of afraid of fish, which seems really funny to think about now,” she says. “It was like exposure therapy and as I got to know fish, I got really interested. There are so many different kinds of fish, including ones we don’t know about yet because we haven’t explored the entire ocean. I find the vast mystery of fish is really appealing.”

Now the fish health and quarantine specialist at Como, Julio says that field conservation experiences made possible by the Conservation Champions program advances zookeepers’ understanding of the animals in their care and in the wild. “I’ve never worked at another zoo or aquarium that does anything like this, but it’s so important for zookeepers to go out and do field work,” she says. “We know a lot about captive animals, but to have that exposure to wild animals and data collection is important, because you need the whole picture to take really good care of your animals.”

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.”

Deputy Parks Director Erica Prosser was filling in as Como’s interim director last summer when the city of St. Paul’s computer systems were hit by a disabling cyberattack. “Being new here, I immediately flashed on ‘Jurassic Park’ and imagined all the animals just wandering away,” she says. “The staff reassured me that can’t happen, thank goodness, but this is a job that comes with many surprises.” 

Officially appointed to the campus director position in September, Prosser has made fast work of learning the ropes at Minnesota’s most visited cultural destination, overseeing everything from cross-country polar bear transfers to a comprehensive new strategic plan for conservation. Prosser recently sat down with Como Friends to talk about what it’s like to be responsible for Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, where more than 1,000 animals and nearly 2 million annual visitors cross paths every day. 

You’ve worked in a variety of government roles, in the Minneapolis mayor’s office, the Minneapolis Fire Department, and you served on the Metropolitan Airports Commission. How did you find your way into the St. Paul parks, and why does this work excite you?

I would say that my personal mission in my work has been about promoting equity and ending systemic racism, and so one of the things I loved about the parks and my job as deputy director has been overseeing the Right Track program which has become a pipeline for career development opportunities for youth from cost-burdened households in St. Paul. Here at Como, we’ve created a new apprentice program that’s creating paid work opportunities in zookeeping and horticulture for young people who might not be able to afford taking on an unpaid internship. I’m really passionate about youth and workforce development, and the parks are a great place to support both. I also love that Como is free, because it helps us to serve such a diverse audience. Mayor Melvin Carter would often say that he wants this to be “Saint Paul for all,” and in the Parks and Recreation Department, we’ve been working hard to break down barriers to our programming. I’m constantly thinking about ways to reach new communities who might not be familiar with what Como offers.

Did you come to Como as a kid? 

I lived in Chicago until I was in sixth grade, so the Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo were my childhood zoos. I’m afraid it’s not a great story, but the first time I came to Como on a field trip, I cried the whole bus ride home because I was upset about the polar bear, doing that repetitive swimming. Of course, many years later, when I came back as a parent with my two kids, Como had become a completely different place with a state-of-the-art habitat in Polar Bear Odyssey, and exceptional keepers like Allison Jungheim, the polar bear studbook keeper, who is recognized as an expert in humane polar bear care. These major improvements have elevated animal care to such an extent that Como has become a valuable education destination, teaching the public about conservation, and now even helping to sustain vulnerable species like polar bears, and doing everything we can to help protect them in the future.

Your coworkers have noticed that you’ve been creating an impressive botanical collection in your office. Is the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory inspiring you?

Absolutely! I love looking into the greenhouses and seeing all of these growing things. One of the most memorable and meaningful things about Como is coming to the Conservatory with a family member who was suffering from severe depression. We made it a regular thing for a while, coming to visit all these green living things, feeling the humidity, and taking in all of the good smells in the Sunken Garden, in the Palm Dome. It became part of a healing journey, and that’s why the Conservatory has a very special place in my heart. I think it does for a lot of people. 

What discoveries about Como have surprised you the most since you started this job?

Seeing people stand in line for hours when Frederick the corpse flower was blooming was a big surprise. It taught me that not only do our animals have personalities, but the plants have personalities, too—and fan clubs!

Another big learning experience for me was when Sago, a Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth, gave birth right on exhibit. That’s when I found out there’s no urine pregnancy test for sloths, so guests were the first ones to see it, record it, and post it so it went viral. We leaned into it because the whole thing was really cool, but a few weeks later, the baby died, and it was just heartbreaking. The circle of life is real in a zoo, and when an animal like Clover the giraffe dies, the impact is enormous. These animals are like longtime coworkers to our zookeepers, and they’ve often been caring for them even longer than their own children. These are huge losses. 

What are you looking forward to for Como? 

Creating a new campus plan to guide improvements and programs for the future. Our infrastructure is aging while animal care standards are only increasing, so I’m really looking forward to imagining and designing what this place could look like and feel like in the future. I’m also really excited about working with Katie Hill, Como Friends’ new president, who also loves to brainstorm. With the work we’ve done creating the education strategic plan and the conservation strategic plan, it feels like we have all of the layers in place to do this work really well.

We know you’re a fan of Parks and Rec, and regularly get cast as Leslie Knope in the St. Paul Parks’ annual Halloween post. What do you have in common with her?

Saint Paul as a whole, and the Park and Rec Department in specific, is such a family. A large percentage of our workforce was born in Saint Paul, and still lives in Saint Paul, which creates this additional sense of responsibility for stewarding things as well as we can for this community. I love Leslie Knope, and like her, I feel like every day on this job is different, with new things to learn all the time. Do the orangutans have their flu shots? How many school buses just pulled in for field trips? Do we have room for a few hundred new carnivorous plants? Some days it can be a little crazy, but I guess that’s why it’s called a zoo. 

As Como’s education coordinator, Tim Buer is very well acquainted with Como Zoo’s resident wolves, Nicky and Cerberus. But on a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, Buer developed a whole new appreciation for the species, even while observing them through a scope from nearly a mile away.

“We’re lucky to have a pretty stable wolf population in Minnesota, but seeing them in the wild in Yellowstone, where they’ve made a successful return, was just really exciting,” he says. 

Rising before dawn to watch as some of Yellowstone’s wolves started their day was one of the highlights of a week-long professional development trip made possible by Como Friends’ Conservation Champions program. With help from the competitive microgrant program, Buer was able to join a cohort of 13 other educators from around the country in an immersive conservation experience led by Ecology Project International, a nonprofit that brings students and scientists together on field research projects around the world. Sleeping in tents in and around Yellowstone’s Northern Range, the group collected a range of data to support scientists in the field, from gathering fecal samples from the Lamar Valley’s roaming herds of bison, to observing wild wolf behavior alongside Rick McIntyre, a retired park ranger who’s become a world-renowned wolf conservation expert. 

“That was probably the highlight of the whole trip for me, learning from a researcher who’s been in Yellowstone for the duration and who could talk about what the reintroduction of wolves has meant,” Buer says. “For me, one of the most interesting things was hearing how much the loss of wolves a generation ago affected everything in the ecosystem, driving up the elk population, that would then chew down all of the aspen trees. Now with only about a hundred wolves in the park, it’s helped to bring elk back to their normal capacity, and made everything more stable. After eight decades of decline, aspen trees are flourishing again, thanks to wolves keeping elk herds over grazing in check. Their return has reshaped the landscape, showing how one species can restore balance to an entire ecosystem.

“Another fascinating thing we learned was the positive economic impact that those wolves have,” he continues. “It’s estimated that one wolf brings in about $82 million in revenue for the park each year.” 

Facts like these are very likely to find their way into Como’s conservation education curriculum, including the new Fourth Grade Field Trip partnership launching later this fall. Following the success of Como’s long-running Second Grade Field Trip program with the St. Paul Public School District, this new offering highlights a series of Conservation Champions projects from over the years, Buer says, 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.”

The station-based class 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 Buer is still unpacking everything he learned about the extraordinary animals of Yellowstone, he says he looks forward to working some of his experiences and discoveries into Como’s conservation curriculum in the months ahead.

“Yellowstone has a very storied history, and there’s a lot that’s known about it, but also a lot that people probably don’t know about it,” he says. “I really look forward to sharing some of these conservation stories with our students.”