The Minnesota Legislature has approved $9.3 million in state bonding funding for Phase One of Como Park Zoo and Conservatory‘s planned Big Cats and African Animals project, clearing the way for work to begin on one of the zoo’s oldest and most recognizable areas.
The Minnesota Senate passed a bipartisan bonding package on Sunday, May 17, 2026, investing in public infrastructure across the state. Funding for improvements at Como’s aging Big Cat Habitat was included. Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten championed the request.
Phases as insurance
Como asked for full project funding and did not get it. That the project is moving anyway is the result of a decision made years earlier.
Planning has been underway for several years, and the zoo deliberately structured the project into phases while preparing for several funding scenarios. A single-phase request that comes up short produces nothing. A phased request that comes up short produces Phase One. The $9.3 million now allows that first phase to begin.
“This funding allows us to begin Phase One of a transformational project focused on modern animal welfare standards, accessibility, conservation education, and preserving Como as a free resource for future generations.”
Erica Prosser, director of Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
What is being rebuilt
The project is designed to modernize aging infrastructure while creating improved habitats for large cats and African animals, expanded animal care areas, better accessibility, and more immersive guest experiences. Future plans include updated viewing that preserves the nose-to-nose sightlines generations of Como visitors have grown up with.
The zoo has published architectural views of a new Lion House, showing a low building with a curved approach ramp and a mesh-roofed outdoor yard attached.
The wolves move first
Construction does not begin with concrete. It begins with animals going somewhere else.
Como’s wolves are scheduled to relocate to another accredited facility later this summer to make room for construction activity tied to Phase One. That is standard practice on a project of this kind and it is also the part visitors notice first, usually before any announcement explains why a habitat is suddenly empty.
A free zoo, still
Como is one of the last free accredited zoos in the country and welcomes nearly two million visitors a year. Prosser named preserving that status as one of the goals of the project, which is a harder promise to keep during a capital rebuild than outside of one.
The zoo will continue working with city leadership, legislative partners, Como Friends, architects, engineers and animal care experts as the project moves forward.
Quick answers
- How much did Como Park Zoo receive?
$9.3 million in Minnesota state bonding funding for Phase One of its planned Big Cats and African Animals project. The Senate passed the bipartisan bonding package on Sunday, May 17, 2026, and Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten championed the request.
- Did the zoo get everything it asked for?
No. Como asked for full project funding and did not get it. The project is moving anyway because the zoo deliberately structured it into phases while preparing for several funding scenarios. A single-phase request that comes up short produces nothing; a phased request that comes up short produces Phase One.
