By: Jessica A. Dennehy
Alaska’s Fat Bear Week, the highly anticipated annual competition sponsored by Katmai National Park and Preserve, was delayed after one of the competitors was attacked and killed. For the past decade, this week-long online voting contest has celebrated the “chonkiest” bear in the Last Frontier, honoring Alaskan brown bears’ survival skills as they bulk up and prepare for hibernation. Fans vote for the bear that they believe “best exemplifies fatness and success” with more than 1.3 million votes cast in the last year alone. Bear 402 would have been one of the twelve competitors this year, but due to her untimely death just a day before the polls were set to open, the competition was postponed out of respect. RIP Bear 402—you would have loved your fellow big-backs Moo Deng and Pesto.
The contest celebrates the resiliency of the 2,200 brown bears that inhabit the preserve on Alaska’s Peninsula, which stretches from the southwest corner of the state out towards the Aleutian Islands. In order to prepare for their long hibernation, these bears gorge on the plentiful sockeye salmon that return up the Brooks River during their spawning season. As the salmon try to swim upstream, their larger equivalents are often seen showboating, displaying the agility of much smaller animals, by catching fish midair as they leap over the small waterfalls prevalent in the region.
Adult male brown bears typically weigh between 600 and 900 pounds (270 to 410 kilograms) in mid-summer. After feasting on migrating and spawning salmon—with each bear consuming as many as 30 fish per day—large males can reach over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) by the time they are ready to hibernate. Females, however, are about one-third smaller than their male counterparts.
Despite the unfortunate passing of Bear 402, the show must go on. Among the key contenders are Bear 909 Jr., who recently devoured his competition to win the Fat Bear Junior competition for the second time. He’ll face Bear 519, a young female, in the first round. The winner will then take on the defending champion, Grazer, considered one of the most formidable bears on the river— and an absolute beast. Another first-round matchup pits Bear 903, or “Gully” (an 8-year-old male named for his love of seagulls), against Bear 909, who is the mother of 909 Jr. The winner will face the two-time champion, Bear 747, named after the equally massive airplane.
Previous notable contenders from Fat Bear Week include:
- Grazer: The 2023 champion, Grazer won by a landslide against 32 Chunk.
- 32 Chunk: A 2.5-year-old male known for his impressive “substantial fat reserves,” particularly in his rear end.
- 435 Holly: The 2019 champion, who raised four cubs, including two that weren’t her own.
- 480 Otis: The 4-time winner of Fat Bear Week with titles falling between 2014-2021, he’s the GOAT. At 28 years old, he is and forever will be the fattest of the fat bears – at least in our cholesterol-filled hearts.
On a final note, while these bears are living their best “bulk” lives, please acknowledge that attempting to scarf down 30 salmon a day is not the secret to human success. So, please, don’t try this at home—your digestive system will likely have its work cut out for itself, and your friends might not be particularly enthusiastic about your new, fish-scented persona. Stick to more reasonable pursuits—like napping or the occasional salad. Stay safe, and leave the mass bulk-cut cycles to the professionals.
