Buffalo: for too long we’ve been besmirched as a land of wing-gorging, sweatpants-wearing mouth breathers stuck with horrific sports teams and subzero temperatures.

We have done some serious legwork over the past decade or so to re-brand as an artistic, intellectual hub for a generation of new thinkers, an interactive museum of fin-de-siecle architecture and a sharply-focused community working to solve the problems of urban decay, growth after years of decline and the implementation of a sustainable economic model at a grassroots level. All good things.

But you know what’s really going to jump-start the new image of Buffalo? THIS GAL.

Look at that adorable little cub! I would shove my own mother out of the way for a chance to play long-toss with this furball for five minutes. And you know you would, too.

The as-yet-unnamed bear conveniently arrived in the Queen City as the Buffalo Zoo makes its final push for the remaining $4 million left on its ambitious $18-million fundraising campaign to rebuild both the zoo entrance and the polar bear exhibit. Brilliant marketing move—if I had $4 million, I would give it to you, little bear.

AHEM. Excuse me. Anyhow, the world is noticing Buffalo’s infant ursine attraction, and we may have a new Knut on our hands. The Today Show, under the headline “Cutest Thing Ever,” featured photos of the bear on its blog and described the polar half-pint as “astonishingly adorable.”

People Magazine declared that the famous smiling orangutan had met its match, noting that “...the decidedly happiest addition to the Buffalo Zoo has us grinning ear-to-ear, too.” British newspaper The Telegraph featured video of the cub, and fellow Brits over at The Independent posted a short photo gallery of the bear, as well. The Daily Mail actually ran a pretty nice spread—thanks, England!

Stateside, ABC News discussed the story online yesterday. Buzz-fueled site The Hollywood Gossip wagged about the furry finder of fame, too (well done, Free Britney!). The story made the paper in Scranton—must not have been any burning printers to write about—and, of course, The Huffington Post had to weigh in.

But how do you know when you’ve really made it? When Perez Hilton starts throwing your name around.

In true Perez form, he doesn’t get the story exactly right, but we appreciate the love.

You can’t go see the bear yourself right now, as our own Ben Tsujimoto reported last week—“The mini-bear—we’ll call her Queen Fur-ball for the time being—is too small (read: precious) to be featured in an exhibit, but there will be live video feeds of Queen Fur-ball between noon and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Buffalo Zoo’s Rainforest Falls area.”

If you want to make a donation, you can text zoobear to 56512, or visit The Buffalo Zoo online or the Zoo’s Facebook page.