Online voting for Alaska’s Fat Bear Week competition begins after 1 contestant dies in attack

Let the tearing off of the pieces begin.

Voting begins Wednesday in the annual Fat Bear Week competition at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, with viewers choosing their favorite from a dozen or so brown bears fattened up to survive the winter.

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The competition, now in its 10th year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears living in the reserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which stretches from the southwestern part of the state toward the Aleutian Islands. The animals eat the abundant sockeye salmon that return to the Brooks River, sometimes devouring fish in the air as they try to jump over a small waterfall and head upstream to spawn.

The bear’s death delays the competition

Organizers introduced this year’s contestants on Tuesday – a day later – because one of the expected contestants, a female known as Bear 402, was killed by a bear during Monday’s fight. Cameras set up in the park to broadcast live footage of the bears throughout the summer captured the kill and also captured a male bear killing a cub that slipped over a waterfall in late July.

“National parks like Katmai protect not only natural wonders, but also harsh realities,” park spokesman Matt Johnson said in a statement. “Every bear seen on webcams is competing with others for survival.”

The nonprofit website explore.org, which broadcasts uncensored bear cams and helps organize Fat Bear Week, hosted a live conversation about the death on Monday. Katmai National Park ranger Sarah Bruce said it was unknown why the bears started fighting.

“We love celebrating the success of bears with full stomachs and lots of body fat, but the bears’ ferocity is real,” said Mike Fitz, explore.org’s resident naturalist. “The risks they face are real. Their lives can be difficult and their deaths painful.”

He packs on weight to survive

This year’s bracket includes 12 Bears, with eight facing each other in the first round and four receiving a bye in the second round. They had been gaining weight all summer.

Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds (about 270 to 410 kilograms) in midsummer. By the time they hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon – each eating as many as 30 fish a day – large males can weigh well over 454 kilograms. Females are about one third smaller.

When fans vote each round, they shouldn’t just vote for the bear with the biggest belly. Bear fans are being asked to vote for the bear they believe “best reflects the obesity and success of brown bears.”

The taste of seagulls and a bear named after a jumbo jet

Bear 909 Jr., who won the Fat Bear Junior competition for the second time last week, will face Bear 519, a young female, in the first round. The winner will face the defending champion Grazer, described as one of the most dangerous bears on the river.

In another first-round match, Bear 903, an 8-year-old male nicknamed Gully after developing a taste for seagulls, battles Bear 909, the mother of Bear 909 Jr. The winner will face the two-time champion, a bear so large that it has been given the number of the equally massive Bear 747 plane.

One of the largest bears ate 42 salmon

On the other half of the bracket, the first round match features Bear 856, an older male and one of the most recognizable bears on the river due to his large body, challenging the newcomer, Bear 504, a female bear raising her second known trash. The winner will face perhaps the largest bear on the river, 32 Chunk, a 20-year-old male who once devoured 42 salmon in 10 hours. He is estimated to weigh over 1,200 pounds.

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The final match of the first round pits Bear 151, a once playful young bear named Walker now showing more dominance, against Bear 901, a lone female who returned to the river after her first litter failed to survive. The winner will face Bear 164, nicknamed Bucky Dent because of the dent in his forehead.

Voting in this year’s tournament bracket lasts until October 8.

More than 1.3 million votes were cast last year.