128 “Grazer” Grazer is one of the river’s many bold female bears.
747 rarely has to get aggressive with others-most bears recognize they’re no match for his sheer size and stay out of his way. In July, 747 trumped his long-time rival to become the river’s top bear. "I feel a special bit of privilege to witness a bear as big as he." “He's the fattest and largest bear I've ever seen," said Mike Fitz, a former Katmai park ranger and currently a resident naturalist for, to Mashable last year. According to, 747 yielded to the river’s most dominant bear, 856, for many years until this summer 2021. In September 2020, scientists estimated he weighed more than 1,400 pounds and he appears even bigger this year. National Parks Service and Īs last year’s champion, some expect 747 to clinch a back-to-back victory. Here are a few of this year’s finest floofers: 747 747, whose build coincidentally resembles the Boeing airliner, is last year’s defending champ. "They are pretty massive," says Naomi Boak, the media ranger at Katmai National Park and Preserve, to Mashable’s Mark Kaufman. The lumbering creatures appear to have had no problem plumping up. This years’ late salmon run hasn’t deterred hordes of bears from seeking salmon in the Brooks River, according to a National Parks Service press release. “We are holding these Brooks bears and the Brooks area as an exemplary illustration of a healthy ecosystem.So, yes, we are celebrating the success of these bears, but it’s important also not to forget that not all the bears and all of those places are so fortunate.” “It really does raise awareness about their ecosystem,” Law says to the Washington Post. If the brown bears don’t have access to calorie-rich foods like salmon, they may not survive the winter. They’ll lose over a third of their body fat during their winter snooze, which lasts about six months. The bears eat around 90 pounds of fish, berries, small mammals, and vegetation each day to pack on the pounds necessary to survive months of winter hibernation.
Though the bears are reaching peak fatness this week, Fat Bear Week is an entire summer of eating in the making. The annual tournament celebrates the bears’ success in preparation for their long winter hibernation, but it’s also become part of a conservation movement. The official Fat Bear Week 2021 Bracket Katmai National Park and Preserve via Flickr Last year, the number grew to more than 600,000 votes. In 2019, more than 200,000 votes were cast. The first iteration of the competition took place in 2014 as a single-day event and has since soared in popularity. The bear with the most votes each day advances until one girthy goober is crowned the champion on "Fat Bear Tuesday," which falls on October 5 this year.
The week magazine contest download#
Enthusiasts can also download their own March Madness–style bracket and watch the bears feast via a live river cam. Voters can judge the bears on any combination of criteria-floofiness, chonkiness, or inexplicable charm. “We really highlight the resilience and adaptability of bears here.”Įach day of Fat Bear Week, which spans from September 29 to October 5, the public is asked to choose between the “fattest of the fat” in online daily mashups. “Fat Bear Week is really a celebration of success and survival,” says Lian Law, a visual information specialist at Katmai, to Natalie B. To the delight of internet onlookers, the slender bears prepare for hibernation by ballooning into fluffy brown blimps. Every fall, some of the largest brown bears in the world gorge themselves on sockeye salmon at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. It’s that time of year again: the leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, and the bears are getting chunkier.
rLvm7pvGJW- Katmai National Park October 6, 2021 As we celebrate, like a true champ 480 is still chowing down. 480 Otis can now boast a bevy of bests w/ this fourth 1st place finish. The people have spoken! The portly patriarch of paunch persevered to pulverize the Baron of Beardonkadonk in the final match of #FatBearWeek 2021. Katmai National Park and Preserve via FlickrĮditor's Note, October 15, 2021: Congratulations are in order for Otis, who took home his fourth Fat Bear Week title! Nearly 96,000 people voted in the finale this month, according to Katmai National Park.
Every summer, brown bears descend on Brooks River to pack on the pounds needed to survive their winter hibernation.
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