Alaskan bears will duke it out for the title of bulkiest bear around later this month when “Fat Bear Week” kicks off in the state’s Katmai National Park for the 11th year in a row.
The National Park Service’s competition searching for the chunkiest, chubbiest bruin will take place from Sept. 23 to 30, as the beasts stock up and stack up the lbs ahead of hibernation.
The show, which livestreams the dozen Alaskan brown bears vying for the title, doesn’t actually offer a prize to the winning wild animal. Many avid fans, though, sometimes bet on winners.
The showdown is entirely in the hands of people voting online, with windows open all week from noon to 9 p.m.
“From tubby titans to gargantuan gluttons, get ready to cheer for the heftiest bears in Katmai National Park and Preserve’s Brooks River!” park officials wrote in a post on social media.
The participating bears have already started packing on the pounds for hibernation in November. During this period, Alaskan brown bears can reach up to 1,200 pounds, adding around four pounds a day.
However, scientists can only make a rough estimate about the competitors’ weight, since the entire contest is done observationally without interactions with the bears’ diets or environments.
Eight cameras are set up in their habitat, including at the falls with an underwater salmon camera to keep an eye out for fresh meals. Many of the bears gather at the park’s Brooks River, which is teeming with sockeye salmon through the end of October.
Fat Bear Week was started by Mike Fitz, a retired ranger at the sprawling park, in 2014. It was originally held for just one day, but quickly grew to a week and even spawned a cub-oriented spinoff.
The 2024 bracket’s announcement was delayed after a fatal fight broke out between a planned participant and another bear.
Last year’s Fat Bear Week winner was “Grazer 128,” who was also caring for a cub at the time. The hulking bear trounced “32 Chunk.”
The cub competition, Fat Bear Junior, will be held from Sept. 18 to 19.
