Lily – the black bear, has become a Facebook sensation after a cam was installed in her den on January 8, 2010 – so that researchers and fans could monitor her hibernation. Lily’s Facebook Page has amassed more than 64,000 fans in less than two weeks.

Lily gave birth to a healthy cub on Friday in front of thousands of wild life enthusiasts – who were watching live via the den cam. This has been the first time a bear giving birth has ever been recorded in the wild. The footage will be used by researchers in a new wild life series, “bearwalkers” – which would feature biologists doing hands on research with bears in the wild.

Dr Lynn Rogers, from the North American Bear Center is heading the den cam project. Rogers, who monitored every moment of Lily’s 21-and-a-half hour labor with colleague Sue Mansfield, expressed his views in the following words:

It was like she was having some contractions that were out of control. We were on edge because we want to see everything, and I mean every bout of labor and time it, and how long between labor sessions. This is an opportunity I’ve not had in my 43 years of research.

Lily, who weighs 200lbs, went into labor at 8pm GMT on Thursday and began slamming her body around the den, as thousands anxiously watched on. Her cub is perfectly healthy and was heard crying to Lily while she tried to calm it down.

Lily’s fans are monitoring each and every moment of the bear and cubs life and commenting on the fan page to let others know about it. One Lilly Fan commented:

CUBBY ALERT! I believe we did see cubby ? . For those who didn’t. Lil’ cubby seems to be tucked under lily’s hind leg upper front of screen, being ‘cupped’ by Lily’s front paw. When she moves, I think there’s a good chance you’ll get a peek because of where he is.

There is no shortage of gratitude and admiration for the researchers either, as one fan commented:

I have to admire and thank the researchers for allowing us to be part of Lily’s and her cub’s life by helping with the recording of their activities. They don’t have to do this, but, have witnessed from the thousands of viewers, a great love and respect for this project. Thank You so much

The biology of the black bear is still relatively unknown to scientists, as the bear is a loner and wanders in the forests. Previous such projects failed because the bears used to get disturbed by the peering cameras and used to abandon their lodgings.

Lily’s den is near Ely in Northeastern Minnesota, USA, less than 30 miles from the Canadian border. You can see here live on cam here and become a fan of her facebook fan page “Lily the Black Bear” to get updates about Lily and her cub.

With the “den cam” project, Facebook is not just about socializing with friends and family – you can now socialize with wild animals too.