Porcupines and bonding and reps, oh my!

A four-legged testifier stole the show Thursday at the House Capital Investment Committee.

Aspen, a North American porcupine, is one of the Minnesota Zoo’s ambassadors, named for one of her favorite foods, the leaves of the aspen tree.

Naturalist Alexandria Tasa was quick to dispel the widespread myth that porcupines can shoot their 30,000 protective quills, “which is why we’re able to come here today.”

Along with zoo officials, Aspen was at the State Capitol urging support of the zoo’s $10 million bonding request. Gov. Tim Walz proposes $4 million in his bonding recommendations for asset preservation.

The other $6 million sought would be to construct an animal hospital wing.

The current animal hospital was built in 1976, making it one of the oldest buildings at the 50-year-old facility in Apple Valley. It does not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture and modern veterinary standards.

Last year, the zoo received $11 million in bonding and raised $12 million privately, which combined is $6 million short of the total cost.

“The $6 million in asset preservation is urgently needed to fund the renovation of a building’s envelope, systems work and workspaces, to review asbestos, meet code requirements, improve overall safety of the facility,” said Anne Rivas, director of animal health at the Minnesota Zoo.

Due to lack of funds in 2025, plans for the new animal hospital were reduced from a stand-alone facility to a renovation of a current building which would serve as a new hospital wing.

“Completing building renovation is not optional. It’s essential to ensuring the purpose of the new hospital, but also safety for our staff and animals,” Rivas said.

Decades of deferred maintenance

The Minnesota Zoo is the fifth-largest zoo in the country and the state’s top-gated attraction with more than 1.4 million annual visitors. The zoo is 36% state-funded which, in addition to other revenue, funds upkeep but not infrastructure.

One-third of the zoo’s 125 buildings are in poor or crisis condition, with deferred maintenance costs totaling $78 million, according to a 2025 report from the Department of Administration. It has the worst facilities’ rating of all state agencies, said Zoo Director John Frawley.

[MORE: View the zoo’s presentation]

The governor’s $4 million recommendation would be directed at failing HVAC, roof, masonry and pavement, waste management infrastructure and code, safety and regulatory compliance.

Deferred maintenance has contributed to the Minnesota Zoo having the highest incident rate of any state agencies with 65 in the last 12 months. These incidents stem from lack of lighting, ramps and lifts, with a notable recent example being a tiger reaching 6 inches through its enclosure’s barrier due to an aging chain link fence.

According to the presentation: “At this stage, the risk is not whether something will fail — it’s whether we fix it in a planned way or through emergency spending.”