Smokey Bear, Goldie, and Little Smokey images from National Zoological Park Photographs, circa 1955–2005

Images from this collection document the National Zoological Park (NZP) zoo and its animals, veterinary care, staff, exhibits, facilities, events, and research. The majority of images were taken by staff such as Jessie Cohen, NZP's official staff photographer from 1979 through 2009. Materials include slides, negatives, contact sheets, prints, and transparencies. A small number of images are accompanied by textual information. This grouping of images depicts Smokey Bear, the real-life counterpart to the US Forest Service character created in 1944, his mate, Goldie, and their adopted cub, Little Smokey. Smokey was born in 1950 in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, and his fame began when he was saved from a forest fire by New Mexico Game and Fish Department staff. He was nursed back to health by veterinarians in Santa Fe and in June of 1950 was given to the federal government with the stipulation that his life be devoted to forest fire prevention and wildlife conservation. Smokey received millions of visitors during his twenty-six-year residency at the National Zoological Park and was later joined by Goldie, who was brought to the Zoo in 1962. When the pair could not reproduce, Little Smokey, another orphaned bear cub from the Lincoln Forest, was added to their family. These photographs show Smokey, Goldie, and Little Smokey at home in their habitats as well as some of the many visitors they received each year. 

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