We love “Lily the Black Bear” for many reasons. First, she was a national sensation in 2010 with the “Lily Webcam” a live camera that tracked her every move 24/7 while she gave birth to her cub Hope; secondly, she’s from our favorite State, Minnesota; thirdly, she was a repeat sensation in 2011 as she gave birth to twin cubs with a webcam audience of 9,000.
The Lily & Hope Den Cam is a live webcam in a remote (and undisclosed) area in Northern Minnesota. The webcam provides a peek into the life of a black bear during hibernation in the middle of a long, cold Northern Minnesota winter, 24 hours a day, seven days a week… rain, sleet or snow.
Lily was also largely responsible for winning the 2010 vote that made “Bear Head Lake State Park” (Lily’s home near Ely, MN), “America’s Favorite Park” with over 1.6 million online votes which surpassed the voting for other notable parks like “Great Smokey Mountains National Park”. Not bad for a park that hosted only 101,568 visitors in 2009.
Lily is also soon to be the star of a television series in the United Kingdom called “The Bear Family & Me” on the BBC.
The good news is that you can still see her live via her Lily & Hope Den Cam! You can also view photographs of Lily from early 2010.