Anonymous Donors
Update March 16, 2010 – 8:59 PM CDT
When we installed the den cam, we had no idea the interest and support it would generate. We did a previous den cam 10 years ago that broadcast still pictures. We knew a lot of people watched, but it was nothing like this. There was no Facebook and no updates.
Today, Lily’s Facebook fans are like a big family—a family that learns from one another, helps one another, and now recognizes a lot of the old information out there is wrong. You’ve become a force for bears. That’s why we have to do this again. As we follow Lily and Hope into the future and watch them sleep next winter, we must have a camera in a second den where we get to know another mother who will give birth and let us compare her mothering skills with those of Lily.
The research bears are more secure because of you. Your support for the research, the Bear Center, and Ely are showing the public and the hunting community the economic value of radio-collared bears as well as their value to research and education. Today, we were asked to do a TV news interview about how Lily’s Facebook fans have catapulted Ely into first place in the “coolest small town in America” contest. In that interview, the mayor talked about the Lilypad Picnic and how the Ely City Council declared one of the picnic days an official “Lily Day.”
Like family, you bailed us out when we ordered too many coffee mugs and mouse pads. We see you encouraging each other to donate. We see some of you donating multiple times to reduce the Bear Center debt and make more possible.
Today, as the thermometer sat at $85,000, an anonymous donor called with an offer to match any additional donations up to $10,000. We saw your immediate generous response.
Also today, after our mention last night that we would like to turn the current Bear Center webcam into streaming video, another anonymous donor inquired about giving $4,000 to sponsor that.
And the first 3 boxes of nuts arrived at the Bear Center!
We’ve received a number of suggestions for further fundraising. One is to make a t-shirt with a big picture and the words “I hibernated with Lily and Hope in 2010.” We like this idea. We’ve wanted to get a good picture of Lily and Hope together, but we have yet to see Hope in person and the pictures from the den cam are too low quality to make a big picture. Jenny Lindell captured a den cam image and turned it into a nice stylized rendering that is a possibility (left).
Another possibility is a sharply detailed picture of a mother sleeping with a cub that looks like Hope, is the same age, and is in a position we saw Lily and Hope snuggle together. That mother had a light muzzle almost like Lily’s. We lightened the muzzle a little more to better represent Lily (right).
We welcome your thoughts on what we should do along this line. Post them in the Facebook comments associated with this update or email them to
We are moved by your responses and contributions.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, North American Bear Center