The veterinarian was a young Canadian Lieutentant (later Captain) named Harry Colebourn, a native of Winnepeg, Manitoba. In September of 1914, Lt.Colebourn was traveling by train accross Canada to join his unit in Quebec who were preparing to embark for England and participate in W.W.I. He had to change trains in the small town of White River (they now have a Winnie the Pooh museum) deep in the great forests of Ontario. While waiting for his next train, he saw an old trapper sitting on a bench with a black bear cub tied to the armrest. Harry took an immediate interest (what veterinarian doesn't love animals?) and sat down on the bench with the odd pair. The trapper told him the cub was female and that he had shot the mother. Harry found something charming and lovable about the little cub and offered the trapper $20 for her (a substantial amount in those days). The offer was very gladly accepted and Lt.Colebourn took the cub with him on the train. He named her "Winnipeg" after his home town and she proved an immediate hit with the other soldiers. She went by ship with them to the training camp near Salisbury. Winnie (as she was universally known) stayed in Lt. Colebourn's tent and slept under his cot. She had an exceptionally sweet and gentle nature and was immensely popular with the troops, being acclaimed as the unofficial mascot of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade. The men loved to play with her in their off hours.
When it came time for them to go to battle in France, Lt. Colebourn loaned her to the London Zoo for the duration of the war; he often visited her on his leaves. Then as now, the motto of zookeepers was "Never trust a bear!", but Winnie was so affectionate, well-behaved, friendly and good-natured that they threw away the rule-book for her. (Some of the keepers were confused by her name, she is sometimes called "Winifred" by mistake in zoo records.) They say that to this day they have never had another bear as sweet as her. Every day, she would give performances for the visitors. Afterwards, they would come up to her and pet her and give her treats. Then, she would give rides to the children on her back. She loved children, and those she sensed were especially fond of her, she would go up to and rub against their legs like a big cat. Certain children became her special friends and were allowed to enter her cage to visit and play with her. According to one account I have read, she was also friends with some of the other animals at the zoo and would play with them too.
