Wilbur (mascot)

Wilbur Wildcat is the official mascot at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

In 1915, the school's first mascot, "Rufus Arizona" was brought to campus. He was a live desert bobcat, named for U of A president Rufus von KleinSmid. For the next fifty years, the school used live mascots, a practice which was discontinued in the 1960s. However, in 1959, Wilbur, the costumed version of the live bobcat mascots, began appearing at football games. He was extremely popular, and has stayed ever since. In 1986, Wilma Wildcat was created, and was even married to Wilbur.

Originally, in honor of Arizona's Old West heritage, Wilbur wore a blue flat-topped cowboy hat, a blue vest, a cardinal bandana scarf around his neck and a holster with two pistols. Recently, Wilbur and Wilma have taken to wearing the teams athletics jerseys instead of his traditional outfit, both as a sign of team spirit and to avoid references to gun violence. However, the hat remains on Wilbur, and Wilma wears a cardinal-colored bow.

External links

* [http://www.arizona.edu/tours/traditions/traditions3.php Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat from Arizona.edu]