5 Surprising Facts to Celebrate Smokey Bear’s 75th Birthday

A small bear cub sitting on a shag rug looks up at a poster of Smokey Bear with the text "Remember - Only you can prevent forest fires!"

Smokey Bear has been preventing wildfires for 75 years. In celebration, we’ve collaborated with the Forest Service to bring Zoo visitors a new exhibit highlighting the story of this famous bear. Don’t miss it during your next trip to the Zoo. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite Smokey facts.

A small bear cub sitting on a shag rug looks up at a poster of Smokey Bear with the text "Remember - Only you can prevent forest fires!"

1. It’s Smokey Bear not Smokey the Bear.

The name of this beloved bear is definitively Smokey Bear. In 1952, songwriters Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote a song about Smokey, adding “the” to retain the song’s rhythm. The tune became so popular that many fans began calling the icon Smokey the Bear, but to this day his real name remains Smokey Bear.

You can listen to the “Smokey the Bear” song in this Public Service Announcement, which was produced by the Ad Council in 1952.

A veterinarian attends to a bear cub, nicknamed Smokey, that was injured in a wildfire. The cub has a bandage around one of its front paws
Two scimitar-horned oryx calves, a male and female, were born in July 2021 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute via artificial insemination.
Two scimitar-horned oryx calves, a male and female, were born in July 2021 at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute via artificial insemination.
Two scimitar-horned oryx calves in a pasture with adult oryx.
From left to right: Scimitar-horned oryx Leanne (mother of the female calf), male calf, female calf and Esmerelda (mother of the male calf).
Two scimitar-horned oryx calves frolic in a pasture with adult oryx nearby.
Our male and female scimitar-horned oryx calves explore their pasture with adult oryx.
Three vintage posters depicting Smokey Bear

5. Smokey Bear has his own Twitter account.

That’s right. You can still write Smokey a letter at Smokey Bear, Washington, D.C. 20252. But if you want to skip the snail mail, you can simply tweet him @smokey_bear.

Stop by the Zoo’s new Smokey Bear exhibit for a look back at 75 years of Smokey Bear through stories, vintage posters and historic photographs.