Fat Bear Voting Week: The fattest cuts go head-to-head in Alaska’s Katmai National Park

The annual festival of muscular, brown, bristly bears is underway in Alaska National Park, where some of the world’s fattest bears fatten up before their long winter hibernation.

Fat Bear Week won’t officially begin at Katmai National Park and Preserve until October 2, when fans can begin voting online for their favorite giant bears in tournament-style brackets.

But on Tuesday, organizers announced the names of four young contestants in this year’s Fat Bear Jr. contest — “the chubby champion will jump to take on the obese competition” in the adult category, Naomi Boak of the nonprofit Katmai Conservancy said during a livestreamed announcement.

The annual contest, which drew more than 1.3 million votes last year, is a way to celebrate the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears living on the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which stretches from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. The most dedicated fans watch the bears live on explore.org throughout the summer as they feed on sockeye salmon returning to the Brooks River.

This year’s Fat Bear Jr. contenders include a few familiar faces: Both the 2022 and 2023 junior champions are up for a repeat; they are still eligible because they still meet the criteria to be considered a puppy, including staying with the sow. Most puppies stay with their mother for about 2 1/2 years, but the 2022 Fat Bear Jr. winner, known as 909 Jr., who stayed with his aunt, is almost 4 years old.

There’s also an emotional favorite: Grazer’s spring pup, last year’s champion Fat Bear. The pup’s sibling died this summer when it slipped down a small waterfall on the Brooks River and was killed by a dominant adult male known as Chunk, or Bear 32 — an attack caught on bear cameras. Grazer fought Chunk to save the pup, but it later died.

Adult male brown bears typically weigh between 600 and 900 pounds (about 270 and 410 kilograms) in midsummer. When they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon—each eats up to 30 fish a day—large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). Females are about a third smaller.

Adult Fat Bear Week participants will be announced on September 30, with voting taking place from October 2-8.