Yes, you read that right! It is Fat Bear Week in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.
The week is a celebration of success and survival, celebrating the resilience, adaptability and strength of Katmai’s brown bears which have had to fatten up considerably if they are to survive the northern hemisphere winter.
The brown bears are matched against each other in a “march madness” style competition with online visitors digitally casting their votes on which bear is ultimately crowned the Fat Bear Week 2022 Champion.
The Katmai Conservancy explained that “over the course of the week, virtual visitors can learn more about the lives and histories of individual bears while also gaining a greater understanding of Katmai’s ecosystem through a series of live events hosted on explore.org.”
There are only four contenders left in the competition, with voting for these bears starting Saturday and ending on October 10.
Two bears will go head-to-head in the voting on Friday’s leg of the contest. The winner of Friday’s voting bout will progress through to Sunday’s voting session.
The first, bear number 435, named Holly, is an experienced forager estimated to be in her mid to late 20s. Katmai describes her as having a light-coloured coat, reminiscent of a toasted marshmallow.
Holly was the 2019 Fat Bear Week champion. She has a wide range of fishing spots and is defensive in protecting them, especially when she has cubs.
The second of Friday’s contenders is bear 32, aptly named Chunk. Chunk is a two and a half year-old, large adult male who is known to arrive in spring still carrying weight from the previous fall, mostly in his hindquarters.
Chunk is consistently one of the largest and most dominant bears at the Katmai falls, frequently occupying the best fishing spots on the river and having access to the best mating opportunities.
Two more bears, number 128 and 480, will then face off on Saturday with the winner heading to the semi-finals on Monday.
Bear number 128, named Grazer, is approximately 17-19-years-old. She has a light coat in the spring with dark patches around her eyes. Her coat is darker in the fall, but she keeps her distinctive fluffy blonde ears.
Grazer is one of the larger and more dominant females to fish the falls. She can be an especially defensive and assertive bear when she has cubs, or when defending a prime fishing location, explained Katmai.
Number 480, Otis, in his mid to late 20s. He is one of the older male bears to use Katmai’s Brooks River. He has a medium brown coat with a patch of blonder hair in the shape of a “7” and is missing two canine teeth and the others are worn down. He also has a distinctive, floppy right ear.
Otis was the Fat Bear Week Champion in 2021, adding another crown to his previous three in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Despite his missing teeth, he is still successful at fishing and puts on significant weight each year.
According to Katmai National Park, its brown bears are some of the largest bears on Earth, with adult male bears averaging around 317 to 408 kg in mid-summer.
In late summer and autumn, when food is abundant, the biggest males often weigh more than 544 kg. Adult female bears average smaller than adult males by one-third to one-half, largely due to the energetic costs of raising cubs.
Brown bears are omnivores and have been documented eating dozens of different plant and animal foods in Katmai. For the Fat Bear Week bears, however, salmon are especially important.
While every brown bear experiences the same basic needs, they are also intelligent and individualistic. Each bear lives and survives by utilising its lifetime of knowledge and its own unique suite of behaviours and skills.
To vote for your favourite fat bear, head on to www.fatbearweek.org. Voting opens daily from 8am to 5pm Alaska daylight time which is 6pm to 3am South African time.
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