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Your donation will support habitat improvements for the Polar Bears and garden improvements for the Japanese Gardens and Plant Collections at Como Park Zoo and Conservatory!

Click on the button below or call us at 651-487-8229.

Polar Bear Odyssey
Como Zoo is embarking on its very own arctic adventure as it prepares for Polar Bear Odyssey - a new polar bear habitat. Polar Bear Odyssey will place bears in a natural immersive environment that offers dramatically more land space and a multitude of opportunities for the bears to exhibit natural behaviors such as digging, swimming, foraging and hunting. Visitors will delight in up-close and personal views of the world's largest land predator. This year-round habitat will offer a climate controlled "Outpost" to experience the bears all four seasons and wonderful open air views that will bring the polar bears as close as twenty feet.

Polar Bear Odyssey will emulate a Hudson Bay ecosystem complete with a river-washed stream, rocky cliffs and evergreen plantings. Specific elements of the new habitat include:

A 13,140 square foot outdoor habitat that is four times larger than the current polar bear space.
Three pools of various depths to provide the bears with options that mirror their native Tundra habitat. One pool will contain live fish for the bears to hunt.
A 260 square foot digging pit filled with bark chips, gravel and sand.
A 1,270 square foot “Outpost” building to provide visitors with year-round climate-controlled experiences of the polar bears. From the Outpost, visitors will be able to observe bears swimming, hunting and playing through large floor to ceiling glass windows.
A 650 square foot Lodge to provide a great get-away for business meetings, education classes and private receptions. The Lodge will have floor to ceiling windows looking out into Polar Bear Odyssey. Attached to the Lodge will be new restroom facilities.
Two separate habitat areas that can either be separated or joined by a corridor. This structure allows Como Zoo to separate the two habitats when housing a family group as the male bear must be isolated from the female and cubs.
All land space in the habitat will be covered with soil and gravel so the bears have a soft, natural surface to walk on.
Two designated stations for the public to watch operant animal training sessions between zookeepers and polar bears. During training sessions, zookeepers teach bears specific behaviors that help the staff to monitor their health and safety. For example, bears are taught to present their paws for inspection or to open their mouths to check on dental health.
A 3,260 square foot state-of-the-art holding building to provide large indoor bedrooms, daylight, pools and a cub den.

Polar Bear Odyssey meets or exceeds the most recent versions of the USDA Marine Mammals Act, Association of Zoos and Aquariums Polar Bear Standards and the Canadian Polar Bear Protection Act. These three standards provide detailed requirements for all elements of the care and management of polar bears, including square feet of habitat space per bear, height of habitat barriers, opportunities for bears to display natural behaviors, type of water, filtration systems, size of holding space, etc. Como Zoo elected to pursue the most stringent standards available for polar bear care to insure a high quality of life for the bears, to increase the probability of receiving a wild bear from Canada, and to guarantee the habitat could house a family group with cubs.

Help create Polar Bear Odyssey by making a donation now!

Japanese Gardens and Plant Collections
The new Japanese plant and garden gallery will immerse visitors in the beauty and history of the Conservatory’s Japanese collections. This new indoor/outdoor wing of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory will provide the only experience in Minnesota of a top-curated Japanese plant collection. Improvements will result in an integrated indoor Bonsai gallery, outdoor Bonsai garden and Japanese Garden. New gallery space will provide the opportunity to display Bonsai trees year-round. An adjoining Bonsai garden will for the first time ever provide space outside to display Bonsai trees. The new gallery and garden will connect to the Japanese Garden via a realigned path that continues the immersive experience into the Garden.

The new wing will extend out from the current parlor and be located next to the Conservatory’s North Wing. Specific elements include:

An enclosed Pavilion walkway will connect to the Conservatory and extend out to the Bonsai Gallery along the length of the Bonsai Garden. The walkway will fully open to the Bonsai Garden via a series of glass doors or provide a closed walkway during inclement weather.
A Bonsai Gallery will be located at the end of the Pavilion near the Japanese Garden. This glittering glass box will display Bonsai trees year-round in a climate controlled space. It will provide lovely views into the Japanese Garden and serve as a destination during the winter months. A patio will extend out the east side of the Gallery and lead down to a deck that will provide a year-round overlook into the Japanese Garden.
An outside Bonsai Garden will extend the length of the Pavilion and provide an outdoors gallery for displaying Bonsai trees. Many of the trees in the Conservatory’s collection must be held outside during the summer months for their optimal health. The Bonsai Garden will provide visitors a serene space that invites them to meander its paths, as well as a stunning gallery to display the Conservatory’s horticultural works of art.
A realigned path into the Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden will curve through a grove of trees providing visitors a new view around every bend. The path will lead to a newly installed traditional Japanese Garden gate that will provide a glimpse of the beauty inside before visitors cross the threshold.
Opportunities to experience the Japanese Garden year-round. Traditional Japanese gardens are intended to provide a new opportunity to celebrate nature in quiet and subtle ways during all four seasons. Visitors will be able to look into the “resting” garden from the comfort of the Bonsai Galley and the overlook deck. During warmer winter days, visitors will be invited to venture out to the garden gate for a closer view into the Garden.
The installation of a new ornamental fence around the south perimeter of the Japanese Garden. Currently, a chain link fence serves as the perimeter wall.

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory curates one of the top Bonsai collections in the United States and has received trees styled and donated by Mas Imazumi and John Naka, nationally revered Bonsai masters. Because of existing inadequate space to display the Bonsai collection, most of these stunning miniature trees are held behind the scenes and are not available for the public’s enjoyment.

Help expand the Japanese Garden and Plant Collections by making a donation now. Just click on the button below or call us at
651-487-8229.

Como Zoo and Conservatory Society
1225 Estabrook Drive
Saint Paul, MN 55103
ComoSupport@ci.stpaul.mn.us
Phone: 651-487-8229
Fax: 651-487-8245