{"id":163557,"date":"2025-09-23T10:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/163557\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:25:08","slug":"fat-bear-week-madness-begins-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/163557\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Bear Week madness begins tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

2025 Fat Bear Week is upon us, and with it, a chance to vote on the fattest bear at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Home to some of the world\u2019s largest brown bears, Katamai National Park\u2019s annual celebration features its biggest salmon eaters, giving fans of fat bears a chance to vote on their favorites before the bears use that stored fat to survive the winter.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s bears are among the fattest the Brooks River has to offer. Voting begins tomorrow with a first-round match-up of champions. 2025 Fat Bear Jr. winner, 128, squares off against the 2022 Fat Bear Jr. champion, 609, a five-year-old cub of 909, who recently emancipated herself from her mother. Whoever wins will be mashing it up with 602, who earned a buy-in for being so large. Known on the Brooks River as \u201cFlo-tato,\u201d he is renowned for his stomping dance that fans affectionately call \u201cthe Mashed Potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other bears competing throughout the week include 503, a resourceful bear that some believed wouldn\u2019t survive two seasons. Their mother abandoned them as a yearling, but hard times make for charming bears, as evidenced by 503\u2019s personality. He\u2019ll have to put on the charm for 901, the 9-year-old Knack Knack Beach regular who, according to Katmai National Park\u2019s Naomi Boak, \u201chas never been fatter.\u201d The winner will face 32, a.k.a. \u201cChunk,\u201d last year\u2019s runner-up, who has been nursing a broken jaw that some speculate he received in a fight over a female. It doesn\u2019t sound like 503 or 901\u2019s charms will work on Chunk, but they\u2019ll give it their best.<\/p>\n

Great job, Internet! (seriously):\u00a0Veronica Mars\u00a0movie raises all the money, gets the greenlight\u00a0<\/a>O hai, Great Job, Internet!<\/a><\/p>\n

Find the bracket below, meet the rest of the bears over at FatBearWeek.com<\/a>, and celebrate these resilient bears that need to fatten up as quickly as possible to survive hibernation. Voting begins tomorrow at 12 P.M. EST and runs through September 30.<\/p>\n

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