Vote for the fattest bear in Katmai National Park in Alaska!
According to Explore.org, Fat Bear Week is a tournament held in Katmai Alaska, where the brown bears compete in a tournament to celebrate the success of preparing for winter hibernation.
Most brown bears spend their winter hibernating to avoid cold weather and lack of abundant food sources. The National Park expressed that during this time the bears’ bodies drop in body temperature, pulse rate, and respiration. This means that brown bears rely solely on their stored body fat to survive until spring.
From AP News, “Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600-900 pounds in mid-summer. By the time they are ready to hibernate…large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds.” Brown bears primarily eat salmon, and each can eat as many as 30 fish per day.
Many of the participating bears have been given nicknames. Every bear is given a number, but some of the numbers mean more than just that. Bear 747 was named after a massive airplane. Bear 903 was nicknamed Gully after he developed a taste for seagulls. The last mentionable nickname was given to a 20-year-old male, 32 Chunk, who once devoured 42 salmon in 10 hours.
On Tuesday, October 8 the winner, what Explore calls “Fat Bear Tuesday, was finally announced. The BBC News just announced, Congratulations Grazer! She has captured international media attention and takes the win for the second consecutive year.
