ELY, Minn. - Lily has become the most famous black bear on earth.

Lily captivated the world on Friday when more than 20,000 people logged onto a live video stream for to see Lily give birth to the first-ever wild bear cub to born on camera.

"People seem to be fascinated by bears and seeing into their hidden world," said Dr. Lynn Rogers of the North American Bear Center in Ely, where Lily and her newborn cub are nestled snugly in a den.

Rogers has been tracking and studing bears for decades.  He was thrilled to discover that Lily had set up her den close enough to power and telephone lines to make the video feed possible.

"I'm happy to have this opportunity for people to learn about bears because there are so many misconceptions out there," he said.  "Most people think that bears sleep all winter, wake up in the spring and are surprised they have cubs, and she's showing us that's wrong."

Lily also has over 68,000 fans on Facebook.

"Watching these people chatter back and forth about what Lily is doing is just a joy," Rogers said.

All this attention is making for an exciting future at the North American Bear Center.  They hope to pay off a $700,000 debt by taking donations online.

Rogers also plans on putting similar cameras in the dens of bears like Honey, who lives at the bear center and is waiting out the winter in her den, visible through a glass window.

As for Lily, rogers will watching carefully along with thousands of people from around the world.

"Now as she's raising this cub, we'll see the different kinds of care she gives it at each stage of development," he said.

The live video can be seen at http://www.bear.org/website/visit-us/lily-den-cam.html.