Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
Gorillas, big cats, hoofed animals, aquatic life, a Japanese garden, and tropical glasshouses share a compact, donation-supported St. Paul campus.
Artwork inspired by Clara Mairs
Como’s scale supports selective looking. Watch one animal long enough to notice choice, enrichment, social spacing, and keeper routine, then cross into the conservatory to compare living systems managed for very different purposes.
Free admission does not mean frictionless arrival. Parking fills, indoor paths narrow, and popular weekends crowd exhibits; transit or an early start can transform the experience. The zoo and conservatory share an identity but retain different rhythms, temperatures, and seasonal priorities.
- Admission
- Donation requested
- Founded
- 1897
- Campus
- Como Park
Quick guide
- Animal focus
- Revisit one habitat for changing behavior
- Plant focus
- Compare conservatory climates before returning outdoors
Move between animal behavior and cultivated climate
- Start with
- Give Gorilla Forest enough time for social behavior to emerge beyond the first visible animal.
- Look closely at
- In the cat building, compare pacing, resting, scent investigation, and responses to activity outside each enclosure.
- Connect the story
- Use the Palm Dome connection to alternate animal observation with a contrasting indoor plant environment.
- Plan around
- Arrive early for parking and schedule indoor-outdoor breaks to manage crowds, heat, or winter cold.
Good to know
Como is free because donations support operations; timed special exhibits and events can still require separate tickets.
Notice these
- Gorilla Forest
- Cat building
- Palm Dome connection