Wilbur and Wilma
University	University of Arizona
Conference	Pac-10
Description	Anthropomorphic wildcats
First seen	1959

Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat are the official mascots 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 their traditional outfits, 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.

The identities of the students portraying Wilbur and Wilma are kept confidential until the final home basketball game of the season.

[edit] External links

• Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat from Arizona.edu

v • d • e University of Arizona Academics Undergraduate Agriculture and Life Sciences · Architecture and Landscape Architecture · Education · Engineering · Fine Arts · Humanities · Nursing · Optical Sciences · Science · Social and Behavioral Sciences · Natural Resources · Physicial and Mathematical Sciences · School of Natural Resources · School of Public Administration and Policy Graduate and professional Graduate College · Eller College of Management · Lunar and Planetary Laboratory · Medicine · Pharmacy · James E. Rogers College of Law · Mel and Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health Athletics and traditions Wildcats · Bear Down · Fight! Wildcats! Fight! · The Pride of Arizona · U of A/ASU Big Game · Arizona Stadium · McKale Center · Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium · Lute Olson · Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat · "A" Mountain · Zona Zoo Campus Main Campus · University of Arizona South · University Medical Center · Libraries · Student Union Memorial Center · Krutch Cactus Garden · Arizona State Museum · Flandrau Science Center · Steward Observatory · Kitt Peak National Observatory · Center for Creative Photography · KUAT-TV (PBS) · KUAT-FM · KUAZ (NPR) Student life Arizona Daily Wildcat · Student Recreation Center · University Boulevard (Tucson) · Centennial Hall · Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park · KAMP

v • d • e Mascots of the Pacific-10 Conference Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat (Arizona) • Sparky the Sun Devil (Arizona State) • Stanford Tree (Stanford) • Oski (California) • The Oregon Duck (Oregon) • Benny Beaver (Oregon State) • Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA) • Traveler (Southern California) • Harry the Husky (Washington) • Butch T. Cougar (Washington State)