Happy New Year! - UPDATE December 31, 2015
Happy New Year!
And thank you for a great 2015!
Lily - August 6, 2014
Lily - August 6, 2014
Symbolic of the strength of Lily Fans is that we?ve passed the 200,000 milestone for Likes on Facebook, reflecting the continuing interest in teaching the world about bears. We welcome the many new Lily Fans. We recognize that only a portion of Lily Fans are on Facebook. I remember when Doug Hajicek and his team flew in to set up Lily?s first Den Cam on January 8, 2010. Doug?s media director asked me if I?d like a Facebook page to go with the Den Cam. I asked, ?What is Facebook.?? Sue said we weren?t set up to handle something that big. WildEarth.TV in South Africa set up the Facebook page ?Lily the Black Bear.? Lily became an internet sensation overnight as Lily and her new cub Hope brought so many together to help bears and help us towards our goal of education. Friendships developed. Lily Fans wanted to know more about bears. We began the daily updates to answer questions about bears. Lily Fans saw how they could help. They began the volunteer effort that has brought us so far in changing attitudes and spreading the message of coexistence. Somehow, we hadn?t thought of asking for money to further that effort. On their own, Lily Fans saw the need and began to donate. We set up a thermometer to show progress in paying off the Bear Center debt and building the Northwoods Ecology Hall and Hope Learning Center.
The famous Lily picture
The famous Lily picture
The BBC took note and did a 3-part documentary My Bear Family and Me, telling the story of Lily and Hope in 2010. That series aired again these past few days in England, the United States (PBS), and possibly elsewhere. The expanded interest from that helped push us over the 200,000 Likes mark on ?Lily the Black Bear.?
Hope - April 29, 2010
Hope - April 29, 2010
This past July, the Northwoods Ecology Hall opened to rave reviews. To achieve that, Lily Fans provided thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of volunteer time utilizing their skills and special talents. They provided the taxidermy for it, gathered the information for the touch-screen kiosks, and held fundraisers. Now, the volunteer effort has spread to a successful and expanding student intern program and Bear Educator program. This is in addition to the Speakers Bureau and Black Bear Box program that was mentioned in the updates the last two nights. Behind the scenes, the Mods work countless hours as part of the Facebook and Pondchat social media sites. Lily Fans who visit the North American Bear Center have helped make the Bear Center Ely?s number 1 attraction on Trip Advisor.
Silly Lily - 2010
Silly Lily - 2010
In its annual recap of 2015 highlights, the Minneapolis Star Tribune mentioned that we won a partial victory over the DNR in being granted by the Court of Appeals the right to set up Den Cams.
Lily emerging from the den - March 24, 2010
Lily emerging from the den - March 24, 2010
None of this would be possible without Lily, Hope, Lily Fans, and the small but great staff at the Bear Center. The update team put together a SUPER video of moments in Lily?s life outside the den in high resolution full color. This includes footage of Lily as a cub with her mother June and brothers Cal and Bud, then as a mother herself with Hope in 2010, the mixed litter with Hope and Faith in 2012 and finally in 2013 with Eli and Ellie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=degmdXAoUEUThank you for all you do.
Hope saying "No Way" to the collar - August 16, 2011
Hope saying "No Way" to the collar - August 16, 2011 - Photo by Jackie Runions
It?s good to be back on the internet. Since 7:15 PM on December 20th our internet connection has been down most of the time due to an electrical surge that made our internet equipment unreliable. A technician from the telephone company discovered the cause midday today.
Tomorrow, we?ll start talking about 2016 and the future.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Author
Topic: Jewel and her cubs (Read 2384617 times)