Anchorage, Alaska – Bears and humans wait all year for the yearly Katmai Conservancy contest called “Fat Bear Week.” The bears prepare by eating in preparation for winter hibernation. The humans celebrate by voting on the “fattest, most successful bear”.
This year’s competition runs from September 23 to September 30.
Competition is intense. According to a press release from the conservancy, the 2024 contest received about 1.2 million votes from over 100 countries.
“Chunk’s resilience, Grazer’s skill, and Bucky’s intelligence are only a few of the amazing stories
we followed at Brooks River this summer,” says explore.org’s founder Charlie Annenberg. “The bears have grown as fat as I’ve ever seen them thanks to another exceptional salmon run. Go big or go home!”
Two contestants in the contest are 128 Grazer and 32 Chunk.
According to the conservancy, Grazer won her second Fat Bear Week championship last year and became the first mother bear to win. Chunk, on the other paw, broke his jaw in the late spring.
Despite the hardship Chunk faced, the conservancy said that he showed resilience by remaining one of the river’s largest bears and predicted that his story might win him sympathy.
The bears of Katmai National Park competing in the contest can be found on explore.org’s “meet the bears” webpage.”
Voting can be found HERE and offers a new stage of the bracket each day.
