Lily the Black Bear & Her Family - April 8, 2011

Lily has moved her family a quarter mile from the den to a large white pine on a south-facing slope near the shore of a lake. Faith scales the tree with ease while Jason rests. Lily and energetic Hope stay nearby.

~~~~~~~

Lynn Rogers, Ph.D., regarded by many as the "Jane Goodall" of black bears, has spent over 44 years learning about wildlife and sharing his information with the public. Using airplanes, vehicles and snowshoes, he has radio-tracked over 100 bears in the vast forests of northeastern Minnesota, studying some for as long as 22 years.

Lily is a wild black bear who is part of Dr. Rogers' long-term study of black bear ecology and behavior at the Wildlife Research Institute. On January 8, 2010, Dr. Rogers installed a live video camera in Lily's winter den near Ely, Minnesota, so the public could share in the birth and care of her cub.

Dr. Rogers, along with his research associate Sue Mansfield, and tens of thousands from around the world watched on the Internet, spending a sleepless night as bouts of labor continued for 21 hours and 39 minutes. Finally, on January 22 at 11:38 AM CST, Lily made some contortions, looked under her, and began the intense, sweet grunts that mothers make only to their cubs. A loud squawk from a single female cub made it definite. Lily tucked her head under her chest to care for and breathe on the cub to warm her. This was the first time the birth of a wild black bear has been viewed live on the Internet.

Lily and Hope are proving to be the best ambassadors for bears we know. The number of fans have increased to over 200,000  (over 128,000 on Facebook alone).  They learned about bears from the bears themselves.  They saw an animal far different from the ferocious image of the media.  They want to share their knowledge and have become a force for bears. 
 
The interest in Lily and Hope was unexpected and much appreciated by all who truly know bears.  Hundreds of classrooms began each day watching the Lily Den Cam and then going on to include Lily and Hope in lessons throughout the day.   People who watched from their homes discussed these bears online and became friends, all bonded by their love of these bears. 

Last summer, Lily unexpectedly went into estrus, temporarily abandoning Hope to mate. They reunited and are denning together once again, as mother and yearling should. However, this year, Lily entered the den pregnant and now we have new cubs along with Hope! On their one-month birthday, February 21, 2011, the fans submitted suggested names for the male and female cubs. By general consensus the names were chosen. We now have Faith and Jason along with Lily and Hope.

Visit http://www.bear.org to view the live den cam. Visit http://www.bearstudy.org to learn more about the research and the bears who are part of it.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Lily
• Hope
• Faith
• Jason
• black bear
• cub
• climbing
• tree
• white
• pine
• NABC
• Bear Center
• WRI
• Lynn Rogers
• research
• ely
• minnesota
• den
• cam

[zanlpn]

Our Sweet Beautiful Lily!! Faith & Jason are so precious and so tiny. Hope has grown go big and is becoming a beauty too. So wonderful to see them in their new home, snow free and able to romp and play and be wild and free bears being bears. Thank You!!

[Benc7]

Thank you!!! The best video of the cubs yet! And we get to see the whole family so clearly! 

[harriethack]

This is one of the last videos of Jason, Faith and Hope with Lily. Jason passed only a few days after this. There may be one more video from 4/9/11

[RustyRazor2010]

@2079423644 - Radio/GPS collars provide invaluable information to researchers. I'm not sure which one this particular bear is wearing in this video. The collars are not an impediment to the movement of the bears nor are they a safety risk. They are quite easily removed if the bear so chooses and they allow the bears to be "observed" w/o a human in the vicinity. There are links in the description that may provide more information. Cheers! 

[2079423644]

What is with the horrendous collar on momma bear? That's not right. If you want to study the bears do it naturally. In fact, just leave them alone!

[sparrowsproductions]

Just read on the news Hope is dead. Shot by a hunter. Very sad. :'(

[topperkat]

Hope is missing. I have come to feel that the bear reasearchers are all about money and who brings them lunch. I feel that they are fraudulent in there study of bears. They let her get killed most likely because they need the press and donations that come with it. They could have sprayed the bear with pink paint or something to identify her as a study bear. They let Sarah bear get shot last year. I am more than angry. If Hope turns up dead, her blood is on their stupidity.

[IceArtz]

Lol this was uploaded on my bday!

[gothretard1]

awwww!!!!!! <3 so cute I want bear and tiger as pets but I want them not to have bitch fits when we make sudden move ment!!!

[harriethack]

RIP Jason - Hope U R happy in Bear Heaven! We miss ya little guy!

[dtoramanrn]

In this video of Jason...looks like he is trembling hanging onto the tree and momma lily is watching over him knowing that he is not as strong to climb up the tree. (just my take on it)(DebColorado)