Zoo News

The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory Is Open!

Welcome back to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory! We have worked tirelessly to design a COVID-19 Safety Plan to prepare for our reopening. At this time, only the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory will be open as a one-way walking path beginning at the Japanese Garden gate which is north of the Conservatory’s main entrance. Como Zoo will open at a later, undetermined date as we wait for the dial to turn in Minnesota’s Stay Safe plan.

Some important things you’ll want to know before your visit:

• Reservations are required for both members and nonmembers at this time. Reservations are currently available on this website only, below.
• Due to physical distancing guidelines, admission is limited each day. Advanced reservations are available on a first come, first serve basis.
• Per the Mayor of Saint Paul’s Emergency Executive Order 2020-09, all staff and visitors are required to wear face coverings/masks while on the grounds of Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.

Click HERE to visit our FAQ page for more information you’ll want to know before your visit to the Conservatory

Introducing Camp-In-A-Box!

Host camps from the comfort of your own home!  Click HERE for more information and to order yours today!

We know you may not be able to join us at the zoo for camp this summer, so we’re bringing the camp to you! Each box contains elementary age activities for a five-day camp week, including supplies for games, crafts, worksheets, nature scavenger hunts, and more.

Camp in a Box activities are focused on education and fun! You may need to provide your own coloring supplies, glue, and scissors. Camper will enjoy the daily activities and exploring the outdoors.

Camp in a Box will be delivered to your home with 2 hours of hands on, themed elementary age activities for each day of the week. Participants are invited to a virtual session on Wednesdays that include some instruction and zookeeper or gardener encounters!

Pollinators! Now virtually open!

See what all the buzz is about in our Pollinator Exhibit!

#Bee ready to find out what all the buzz is about during this 15-part virtual weekly series, courtesy of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment! While we are currently closed to the public, we invite you to join us on Saturdays for informative, entertaining tours and talks from our Pollinator Exhibit! Tune in every week to find out how you can “bee” a pollinator-friendly neighbor!

Week 4: Unusual Pollinators – The Good, the Weird, and the Weirder

When we think of pollinators, we often imagine bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, but pollinators can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes! Take a tour or the strange and spectacular pollinators and the plants they have formed relationships with during this week’s episode and go beyond Bumblebees and butterflies! Put your pollinator knowledge to the test with Nova’s PICK THE POLLINATOR  game! Then, get creative with our CREATIVIBEE  challenge. Fill in the prompts about your animal and flower, then draw them! You can be as creative or silly as your imagination wants to be! Share your results using the hashtag #CreativiBEE

Week 3: Cultivating Pollinator Gardens

This week we’re getting our green thumbs in gear with a conversation about how we cultivate and care for our own pollinator plants. Get gardening tips and recommendations for large and small spaces on how we can all make a positive impact for our local pollinator populations in our own homes! Want to encourage pollinators to visit? Big or small, any plantings help! You can make a POLLINATOR GARDEN, or even turn some or all of your yard into a BEE LAWN! You can incorporate POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY PLANTS into your garden beds, or community garden! You can even plant some pollinator-friendly plants, such as Echinacea, Bee Balm, or OTHER PLANTS in a container on a balcony or porch and give pollinators a reason to buzz by and visit! Looking for a place to buy your plants? Check for plant sales at Garden Safari Gifts with us (supplies limited) or look for a great NURSERY or LANDSCAPER near you.

WEEK 2: Cool Facts About Pollinators..Did you know….?

On this week’s episode we’re going to learn about the important role animals play in pollination for many plants, how plants can encourage preferred pollinators, and what kind of pollinators you can find in your backyard! Click HERE for your very own PASS THE POLLEN activity to try at home!

WEEK 1: Sneak Peak of this Year’s Pollinator Exhibit

This week, take a sneak peak of this year’s Pollinator Exhibit during planting, and learn about the basics behind pollination. When did flowers first appear, how they are put together, and how pollination has helped flowering plants become the most diverse group of land plants! Click HERE for a fun BUILD A FLOWER craft at home!

This seasonal exhibit highlights pollinators from all around the world with signage, statues and live bees in an indoor 2,500 square foot greenhouse garden environment filled with pollinator plants. The wide variety of plants come from the world class Marjorie McNeely Conservatory collection and will showcase the different pollinator syndromes, as well as how different flowers attract their own pollinators.

Blue Orchard Mason Bees, Alfalfa Leafcutter Bees and Eastern Bumblebees will be in covered enclosures to observe them through their lifecycles. Over 80% of the plants today rely on bees and other animals for pollination so that they can produce seeds, including one third of crop species. Bees alone are responsible for many commercial crops such as alfalfa, tomatoes, pumpkins, apples, cherries and many more. Como hopes to inspire the public with this exhibit to take notice of the pollinators all around them and see what all the buzz is about when it comes to pollination.

Conservatory Reopening FAQs

This FAQ covers the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s enhanced reopening measures for visiting during phase one.

Pop-Up Plant Sale July 1 & 2

Pop-Up Plant Sale coming soon to Como Park Zoo & Conservatory’s Cleveland Court (located between the Carousel and Como Town)
Wednesday, July 1 – Thursday, July 2 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.,
2 plants for just $5.00
Plant a little piece of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in your very own garden next week when Como Friends’ Garden Safari Gift Shop hosts a pop-up plant sale in Como’s Cleveland Court. Our outdoor tent will be set up for convenient socially-distanced shopping, with sales clerks in masks and quick scan credit card-only transactions. Impatiens, Dahlias, Zinnias, Foxglove, Marigolds and a host of other annuals—this is your chance to grow a little bit of Como right at home. Quantities are limited, so shop early for the best selection—all sales are final.

A Drone’s Eye View of Como Harbor!

Amazing progress is being made!

You’re Invited to Virtual Sunset Affair!

2020 Como Park Japanese Obon Festival is Cancelled

Over the past several weeks we have watched several major events be canceled for this summer and fall due to the ongoing and anticipated impact of the Coronavirus. After careful and thoughtful consideration, and out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our community – including attendees, performers, vendors, volunteers, and staff – The Como Park Japanese Obon Festival will not take place on August 16, 2020 as previously announced. With the information available today, and the uncertainty surrounding very large gatherings, we cannot in good conscience proceed with the festival this year.

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, along with the Saint Paul-Nagasaki Sister City Committee (SPNSCC), and the Japan America Society of Minnesota (JASM), sincerely appreciate all the time, talent and support the community has provided to the festival over the past 21 years. We hope you will carry the spirit of the Obon Festival with you until we can be together again August 15, 2021

ABOUT OBON AND THE OBON FESTIVAL
According to Buddhist tradition and Japanese folk belief, the souls of the dead may interact with the living. At the time of Obon (typically mid-August), ancestral spirits are said to revisit their families for three days. Like the New Year’s holiday, Obon is an important family holiday, and people who have moved away from the family home will return to be with their parents or grandparents for the festivities. Families pay their respects at gravesites and put out offerings of food and drink on a tray (bon) before the household altar; they also light lanterns or small fires outside the house to guide the souls symbolically to the home. Neighborhood folk dances known as bon odori are held as part of the celebration of both family and community. On the last evening of Obon, lanterns again guide the spirits back to their resting place; in some communities these lanterns are released in the river to float down to the sea.

Beginning in 1998 as the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival, the Como Park Japanese Obon Festival encompasses Japanese tradition through music, dance, crafts, martial arts and lanterns on the grounds of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory. Entertainment includes taiko drumming groups, koto (Japanese sitar), shakuhachis (bamboo flutes), traditional and contemporary dance and singing. Martial arts, Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), origami demonstrations, and a host of other cultural exhibits and demonstrations line several paths through the grounds. Savory Japanese food and dozens of culturally related items are available for purchase.

VIDEO: Virtual tour of the Summer Flower Show!

If you missed our Facebook Live tour of this year’s Summer Flower Show, fear not! Here is your opportunity to view the beauty of the garden, from the comfort of your own home!

Click HERE for ways you can help support Como Park Zoo & Conservatory!

CUTENESS OVERLOAD! Como Welcomes SECOND Baby Dall’s Sheep in 9 Days!

Just in time for Mother’s Day, another baby Dall’s sheep born at Como Zoo, plus the public has picked the new name for the baby Dall’s sheep born April 25!

 

Meet Skywalker! Como Zoo welcomed another snowy white male baby Dall’s sheep into the world earlier this week (Monday, May 4th). Skywalker was born to first time mother Sunny. They share the exhibit with Skywalker’s father Sylvester, almost 3 year-old Aunt Drizzle, grandmother Storm, and the lamb born April 25….Nimbus!

 

Meet Nimbus! Nimbus was welcomed into the world April 25 and is now prancing about in his home at Como Zoo. He is scampering around the exhibit he shares with his mother “Storm”, father Sylvester, two-year-old sister, Sunny, almost 3 year old sister Drizzle and Skywalker. The public got a peek and an opportunity to vote on his name as part of Como’s weekday “Como Live” series. The name Nimbus easily beat out Lightning and Cyclone. 

Nimbus 66.3%
Lightning 22.9%
Cyclone 10.8%

Dall’s sheep are most notable for the males’ (known as rams) massive curled horns. Females (known as ewes) also carry horns, but theirs are shorter and more slender, and only slightly curved. Until rams reach the age of 3 years, they tend to resemble the ewes quite a bit. After that, continued horn growth makes the males easily recognizable. Horns grow steadily during spring, summer, and early fall. In late fall or winter, horn growth slows and eventually ceases. This start-and-stop growth results in a pattern of rings called annuli which are spaced along the length of the horn, and can help determine age. The typical gestation period for a Dall’s sheep is 175 days and yields one baby.

Learn how you can sponsor the baby HERE!

Como Live is funded by the Legacy Amendment.

Chloe the sloth takes over Morning News Interview

Click HERE for ways you can help support Como Park Zoo & Conservatory!

Click HERE for ways you can help support Como Park Zoo & Conservatory!

Como Welcomes Baby Dall’s Sheep & how you can help name him!

The names have been whittled down to Nimbus, Lightning, & Cyclone. We will announce the winner on Friday, May 8th during the 1:30 pm Como Live segment on Facebook.

Cast your vote by clicking HERE!

A snowy white male baby Dall’s sheep was welcomed into the world Saturday, April 25, and is now prancing about in his home at Como Zoo. He is scampering around the exhibit he shares with his mother “Storm”, father “Sylvester”, two-year-old sister, “Sunny” and almost 3 year old sister “Drizzle”.

The public can get its first live look at the lamb and learn how they can participate in naming him by tuning into Como Park Zoo & Conservatory’s Facebook page on Friday, May 1st at 1:30pm (Central Time). The naming and peek at the lamb are part of Como’s weekday “Como Live” series which gives the public challenging, fun, virtual learning opportunities. Every Monday – Friday at 1:30pm Como’s Facebook page features special live zookeeper talks, gardener talks, and behind-the-scenes talks and tours.

Dall’s sheep are most notable for the males’ (known as rams) massive curled horns. Females (known as ewes) also carry horns, but theirs are shorter and more slender, and only slightly curved. Until rams reach the age of 3 years, they tend to resemble the ewes quite a bit. After that, continued horn growth makes the males easily recognizable. Horns grow steadily during spring, summer, and early fall. In late fall or winter, horn growth slows and eventually ceases. This start-and-stop growth results in a pattern of rings called annuli which are spaced along the length of the horn, and can help determine age. The typical gestation period for a Dall’s sheep is 175 days and yields one baby.

Learn how you can sponsor the baby HERE!

Como Live is funded by the Legacy Amendment.

Video: Tour the 2020 Spring Flower Show Here!

If you missed our Facebook Live tour of this year’s Spring Flower Show, fear not! You can tip-toe through the tulips here!

Dear Como Contest…Please write, won’t you?

Are you missing Como? We miss you too, and the animals and plants would love to hear from you!

Write a letter to your favorite plant or animal and send it to us. What do you love about Como? What inspires you to visit?

We will choose 5 letters to read as part of our at the 1:30pm Como Live segments from Monday, May 4th through Friday, May 8th. These letters will be shared with the animal or plant recipient!

All ages are welcome to submit. Please e-mail your letter to us at comoeducation@ci.stpaul.mn.us. We will accept letters through Sunday, May 3rd and will notify you if your letter has been chosen.

By e-mailing us a letter, you are giving us permission to share it to our social media

Say Hello To Sudi!

This beautiful baby now has a beautiful name! Say hello to Sudi! Sudi is a Swahili name for boys meaning lucky. The distinction of naming the kudu, born February 18^th, was given to Berger Moving & Storage in honor of their longstanding support & commitment to Como.   Berger Transfer hopes Sudi brings luck to all those around him!

As a supporter from 1998, Berger Moving & Storage gifts have supported Como Friends‘ events, (Bouquets, ZooBoo, Sunset Affair), the creation of Polar Bear Odyssey, and most recently, Berger Transfer sponsored the Giraffe Feeding Station.

Sudi was born on February 18th at 12:56pm, weighing in at 14.5 pounds. He is the second offspring of Nate (12) and Fjorda (4). He is half brother to Dakari (13 months). The Kudu Species Survival Plan (SSP) working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), gave their recommendation for the pair to breed. Como Zoo is an accredited institution of the AZA.

Lesser kudu are one of the more striking species of antelope. This species has a white stripe running down its back with 11 to 14 stripes coming off it and down the animal’s side. Stripes stand out on a grayish-brown coat on males and a reddish-brown coat for females. Males are also adorned with impressive spiraled horns which will twist 2.5 times and can grow up to 3.5 feet long. Facial markings consist of black stripes running from each eye towards the nose, and a white stripe running from each eye to the center of the face. Legs are fawn colored, with white spots above the hooves. Two white spots adorn either side of the neck.

Large ears allow for enhanced listening abilities and predator detection, and the coloration of lesser kudu is such that when individuals remain motionless they are very difficult to detect in their natural habitat.

Lesser kudu reside in the arid and semi-arid areas of northeastern Africa, including parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.