Who was the Canadian army veterinarian who bought the real bear Winnie?

The Canadian army veterinarian who bought the real bear Winnie was Harry Colebourn.

Colebourn was serving with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps during the First World War. In 1914, while travelling by train toward the military training camp at Valcartier, Quebec, he encountered a hunter in White River, Ontario, selling a female black bear cub. Colebourn bought her for $20 and named her Winnie after Winnipeg, his adopted hometown.

Winnie travelled with Colebourn to England and became an unofficial mascot of the Fort Garry Horse. When Colebourn was sent to France, he left her at London Zoo, where she became a popular attraction. He eventually donated her permanently to the zoo.

The bear later inspired Christopher Robin Milne's teddy bear, which in turn helped inspire A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories. A common mix-up is confusing Harry Colebourn with Christopher Robin Milne or E. H. Shepard: Colebourn owned the real bear, Milne wrote the stories, and Shepard illustrated them.