Zoo History: Hotfoot Teddy Becomes Smokey Bear

When World War II broke out, an enormous swath of able-bodied American men were called to duty in Europe, Africa, and Asia.  Their departure left a drain in many professions, but few caused authorities greater concern than firefighters.  After the Japanese initiated a program of trying to incite forest fires in California through firebombing, the US Forest Service became very concerned.  While there was only so much that could be done to limit the actions of an enemy power, the Forest Service decided that it needed to put more focus on educating the public about the danger of wildfire, and so a public relations campaign was begun.

The first mascot on the campaign was the star of Disney's animated movie Bambi, but Walt Disney only loaned the rights to the Forest Service for a year.  In 1944, the decision was made to switch the mascot from a deer to a bear.  The cartoon bear was named "Smokey" after "Smokey" Joe Martin, a hero New York City fireman.  For the first several years, "Smokey" existed as a cartoon character only.

That changed in 1950, when firefighters scouring the remains of a New Mexican wildfire found a tiny American black bear cub.  The five-pound cub had scurried up a tree to avoid the worst of the fire, but still suffered from burns on his paws and legs, earning him the nickname "Hotfoot Teddy" among his rescuers.   Later, he was renamed "Smokey" after the cartoon icon. 

Smokey became a local celebrity, and his fame soon spread all the way to Washington DC.  The Forest Service decided that he was a perfect mascot for the forest fire campaign, and he was sent to the National Zoo.  Smokey flew cross country, spending the night at the St. Louis Zoo while his plane was refueled, and was greeted at his new home by a crowd of hundreds.  Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts made up a sizable part of the crowd that welcomed him to what would become his home for the next 26 years.

Mascots live forever, but real bears do not, so there was a desire to have an heir to the throne (or, in this case, hat and shovel) to carry Smokey's legacy.  He was paired with a female black bear named "Goldie."  When the pair showed no interest in mating, the zoo introduced another fire-orphaned cub to the group, dubbed him "Little Smokey," and claimed that he was Smokey's adopted son.  Sure enough, Smokey "retired" from public life in 1975, and his "son" took on the mantle.  The original Smokey died the next year, November 9, 1976.  His body was returned to New Mexico and buried in Smokey Bear Historical Park, which now serves as a wildfire education facility.

In his prime, the real-life Smokey received an average of 2,000 pieces of fan mail a day.  In 1964, the US Postal Service gave him his own ZIP code (20252) to accommodate the influx of mail.  Millions of visitors can to see him - in these pre-panda days, he was probably the biggest star the National Zoo and the most famous bear in the country.  Today, Smokey Bear remains one of the most recognizable marketing campaigns in the country.  Virtually everyone knows his "Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires" slogan.  Not as many of those people know that the legend started with Bambi and took off on the singed little-paws of a cub named "Hotfoot Teddy."