Did You Know about 

Smokey Bear

Smokey Bear (often wrongly referred to as Smokey the Bear) is a character in the longest running public service campaign in United States history. The character's mission is to raise public awareness to protect American forests.

What do you know about Smokey Bear?

1. Who became the first symbol of forest fire prevention?

2. Who inspired naming a bear, Smokey?

3. What is Smokey's birthday?

4. What is Smokey's most famous line?

5. Where was the living symbol of Smokey discovered?

6. What was the living symbol of Smokey first named?

7. For 26 years, where did Smokey Bear live?

Answers

1. Bambi. On August 13, 1942, Disney's 5th full-length animated motion picture Bambi premiered in New York City. Soon after, Walt Disney allowed his characters to appear in fire prevention public service campaigns. However, 'Bambi' was only loaned to the government for a year, so a new symbol was needed.

2. "Smoky" Joe Martin, a New York City Fire Department hero who shrugged off burns and blindness in the bold 1922 rescue.

3. Smokey's debut poster was released on August 9, 1944, which is considered his birthday.

4. "Remember, only you can prevent forest fires!"

5. An American black bear who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire, a wildfire that burned 17,000 acres in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. The cub was in the Lincoln National Forest. Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, but his paws and hind legs had been burned.

6. At first he was called Hotfoot Teddy, but was later renamed Smokey, after the mascot.

7. He lived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., for 26 years until his death on November 9, 1976.

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