March 3, 2010 - Lily briefly leaves her den

Video editing and comments by Linda Gibson (a fan).

http://www.bear.org

Lily is a wild Black Bear who at 3 years old had her first cub on Friday, January 22, 2010.

On March 3rd, Dr. Lynn Rogers visited the den. It is an important part of this type of bear research, called habituating. The more these bears are familiar with the researchers, their scent, the sound of their voice, the more they will ignore their presence, which allows them to learn more.

Today, Lily decided to leave the den while Lynn was there. The entire time, Lynn remained calm. What he had to say after the visit was:

"Lily never said a mean word the whole time I was there."

He was surprised she came out and simply decided to back off and let her be for the day.

A viewing from February 3rd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwV1EbvL18o showed the cub rolling on her back. Researchers studied that clip and felt 90% sure that it was a girl...until the cub proved them wrong, they said. :)

A viewing from February 20th http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhmZYfai0JA gave them even more confirmation that she is a she. Their update at Bear.org http://www.bear.org/website/visit-us/lily-updates/277-update-february-21-2010... explains how they determined this.

Female bears stay in the area for life, whereas males move away in 1 to 2 years. The researchers will be able to continue their studies on this little cub if their analysis is correct.

Cubs are born hairless and weigh only 1/2 to 1 lb at birth. This cub will stay with it's mother for about 17 months, hibernating with her next winter.

A long-term study of black bear ecology and behavior is being conducted by the Wildlife Research Institute http://www.bearstudy.org near Ely, Minnesota, less than 30 miles from the Canadian border.

On January 8th, a PixController video camera was installed in Lily's den by trusted researchers. The incredible show of trust by Lily is demonstrated in the cam installation video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCxTyHCvpfA At night, passive infrared light allows us to watch Lily 24/7 without disturbing her.

Thousands of people watch Lily as she labored and gave birth and the numbers grow as more people learn of this rare insight into the life of the amazing black bear.

Visit the Bear Center's website to watch the live cam feed. http://www.bear.org

Please, remember to donate at www.bear.org to help with this incredible research program.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Lily
• black bear
• newborn cub
• baby cub
• cub
• nursing
• ely
• minnesota
• north american bear center
• research
• wildlife
• nature
• den
• cam
• hibernation

[solothyrn]

stupid ads

[gypsylinda]

If you are talking about the ones on the cam, I really try to keep closing them out as quick as possible. If it's the ones that youtube put up, well that was a tough decision. Since the proceeds from clicking on the ads go to the North American Bear Center, we decided it was worth it. :-/

[13meemaw]

I was watching when it happened. W/O the captions it was heart stopping!! Great video capture. Thank you!

[bestoddisee]

Wonderful footage. I've been watching since Hope was born. Thank you so much for making this available!

[tikkisash]

Great footage!!! Thank you!

[Heyloki]

Hey you, yes YOU!

Are you a Lily the Black Bear FACEBOOK fan yet?

Well, what are you waiting for?

GO! JOIN! LEARN! ENJOY!

[nobsh]

Thank you Linda! We love our girls and Dr Rogers!

[barrettgoobers]

As always, thank you Linda!!!!!!!

[krbthomas]

Linda Thank you so much for posting this. You have helped us so much, especially those of us who can't be online watching Lily as much as we would like.