The brown bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve have been packing on the pounds this summer. Starting Tuesday, you can vote online for the chunkiest bear in the annual Fat Bear Week competition. The name of the event says it all, said Katmai park ranger Sarah Bruce.
“We celebrate how fat the bears get,” she said. “Fat equals survival. A fat bear is a healthy bear."
Fat Bear Week started as a one-day celebration over a decade ago, but has grown into an international phenomenon. Over a million people from more than 100 countries voted in the bracket-style competition last year.
Bruce called the face-off the park's hallmark event.
“Fat Bear Week brings the park into the living room of anybody who wants to enjoy this place,” she said. “Even just this past week, we had a bear cam fan who visited the park from New Zealand.”
Bruce is originally from Maryland and she’s hooked, too.
She said it’s stunning to watch the bears transform as they feast on fish in the Bristol Bay watershed – home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run.
“It really is quite a sight to see these bears go from 5, 6, 700 pounds and they come out of the den over 1,000 pounds by the end of the season,” she said.
Most bears in the area start making their way to their dens in October and November. While hibernating, bears will drop a third of their body weight because they don’t eat or drink.
Park rangers are still finalizing this year’s 12 chunky competitors but Bruce said there may be some familiar faces – like potentially Grazer, the reigning champion, along with Chunk, last year’s runner up. Online voting in the bracket-style challenge opens at explore.org Tuesday and runs through Sep. 30.
But if you want to get in on the action early, Fat Bear Week also has a junior division where the plumpest cub advances to the main bracket. Voting for the juniors starts Thursday and closes Friday.
