The News Minute | July 22, 2014 | 7:03 PM IST The real Winnie was from Canada. Yes. This cute little bear, which inspired the series Winnie the Pooh actually came down from Canada- but the author of the story series AA Milne had set up the fictional bear’s home in Ashdown forest in Sussex, England.Well, the story goes like this. Winnie was a black, female bear who was bought for $ 20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in Ontario, Canada from a hunter. The Fort Garry Horse Museum and Archives say that the hunter killed the bear’s mother and took the baby bear along with him so that he could sell her and make money. (Image: Winnie, the real bear with Harry Colebourn) Harry named the bear Winnie, after his own adopted hometown – Winniepeg, Canada. The army officer, who was on his way to England, from where he had to leave for France to fight in the First World War. He made temporary arrangements to house Winnie in the London Zoo.Winnie soon became the favorite attraction of many, including little Christopher Robin Milne, AA Milne’s son, who also named his teddy bear Winnie. (Image: Christopher Robin Milne with his teddy bear, Winnie the Pooh) It is said that once little Milne was even let inside Winnie’s cage to feed her condensed milk.AA Milne himself describes the meeting between his son and Winnie in the introduction to Winnie the Pooh: "So when Christopher Robin goes to the Zoo, he goes to where the Polar Bears are, and he whispers something to the third keeper from the left, and doors are unlocked, and we wander through dark passages and up steep stairs, until at last we come to the special cage, and the cage is opened, and out trots something brown and furry, and with a happy cry of "Oh, Bear!" Christopher Robin rushes into its arms”. Pooh, was a swan that Christopher befriended while the Milne family was on holiday. AA Milne’s son Christopher also figures as a character in the story series. Many of the characters in the series were named after Milne’s son Christopher’s toys.Now what happened to the real Winnie?Though Harry came back after the World War, in the four years that passed by, Winnie had become the darling of many in the zoo and in London. Harry decided to officially donate her to the zoo though his original intention was to take her back to Winnipeg. The London Zoo authorities called her the tamest and the best behaved bear that the zoo has ever had.Winnie was also the unofficial mascot of the Fort Garry Horse regiment, Canadian Army’s armoured regiment based in Winnipeg, Manitoba . The website also describes the time Winnie spent with Harry’s regiment: “Winnie quickly became a pet to many of the soldiers and would follow them around like a tame dog in their off-duty. hours at Salisbury Plain. There were numerous photos taken of her with the men and these photos often became a keepsake for them to treasure".Winnie died after living for 20 long years being loved by thousands, on May 12, 1934. ( Image: The statue of Harry and Winnie at the London Zoo) Today a statue of Winnie the Bear and her friend Harry Colebourn stands at the Nature Playground at the Assinborne Park in Canada and in the London zoo.