KATMAI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska – The only time it’s appropriate to point out and discuss an individual’s weight is when we’re talking about bears. Bears spend much of their summer and fall packing on weight before winter. So when October rolls around, Katmai National Park, in partnership with explore.org, hosts their annual Fat Bear Week, a March Madness style bracket challenge that seeks to crown the fattest bears there are.
“Fat Bear Week satisfies your hunger for bears, salmon, and the other wonders of Katmai, all with one bite.” – park superintendent Mark Sturm
Fat Bear Week Jr., celebrating the healthy diets of Katmai’s younger grizzly bear crowd, kicks off on Thursday, September 26, running through Friday. The brackets for the big ones will be announced on September 30, showing off the competitors for this years proper Fat Bear Week. Then, on October 2, the competition begins. Participants will be able to cast their votes for different matchups between 12pm-9pm ET, with new matchups releasing every day until October 8.
2023’s competition was dominated by female bear 128 “Grazer”. In 2022, the legendary “Bear Force One” bear 747 took the crown for the second time. It’s hard to say who’ll win this year, but the competition is sure to be fierce.