Fat Bear Week, my most anticipated week of the year, returns this Oct. 2-8 with an all new lineup of robust teddies to vote for.
The Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska, is home to some of the largest brown bears in the world. Each summer, bears pack on the pounds in preparation for survival through their winter hibernation. The tradition of Fat Bear Week, an online event founded by former park ranger Mike Fitz, celebrates the bears’ success in their winter preparations through a single elimination, tournament-style voting bracket.
The bears in the competition are paired up at random. Voters will choose which of the two bears in each match-up best exemplifies preparation success through their size. The bear with the most votes moves on to the next round, but only one will be crowned Fat Bear Week champion. To cast your vote, each day between 12 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST, click on the photo of the bear you feel is the largest, then enter your email. Your vote will have been successfully cast when you are able to view the amount of votes each bear has.
Fat Bear Week is a subjective competition according to their website. With each of the bear’s ages listed on the poll, it is worth keeping in mind that older bears may have a bit more competition when fishing with larger and younger bears around. Large adult males challenge competitors to maintain their status at the top of the hierarchy. Bear cubs grow at different rates each year, sometimes surpassing even the largest adults. Your vote can be made with this information in mind, or you can just vote for the bear that you think is the most massive. It’s your vote, cast it how you wish! Bears apparently follow democracy too.
Fat Bear Week, though a rather silly competition on the surface, works as a way to promote Katmai’s wildlife and get people engaged with aspects of the environment. Throughout the week, viewers can engage in livestreams of the bears feeding at the river and ask questions through Brooks Live Chat.
Katmai National Park offers some of the richest and most accessible sources of food, primarily salmon, to brown bears, allowing them to have the highest chance of success in preparing for hibernation. Bears do not eat or drink while in hibernation, causing them to lose around a third of their body weight. Their survival through the winter depends on their ability to properly feed during between late June and mid Oct.
In 2023, 128 Grazer, a highly defensive mother bear, was crowned Fat Bear Week champion with 108,321 votes and over 1.3 million votes collectively cast during the event.
Voting for the final two fattest bears standing (or perhaps sitting by that point) closes on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Place your bets and keep an eye out for the winner!
