That breeze in the air doesn’t just mean it’s time to start looking for your coats. The end of September also means the start of one of the internet’s best annual traditions: Fat Bear Week.
Don’t try to complicate things — the name is exactly what it sounds like. Fat Bear Week is a now-annual tradition run by the Katmai National Park in Alaska alongside media organization Explore, where people can vote on which fat bear should take home the title. Each of the brown bears that make the lands surrounding the Brooks river their home are categorized by numbers and go head to head in March Madness-type brackets. The more prepared the bear is for winter, the more votes should come their way. And boy do the votes come in. In the 11 years since Katmai has held its first Fat Bear Week event, the tradition has transformed from a one-off Facebook post into an annual, global celebration of the national park’s fattest bears, raking in a million votes every year.
“At Brooks river, we have this really special opportunity to get to know bears as individuals because most of the bears that use the river are the same bears that come back year after year,” Explore’s resident naturalist Mike Fitz tells Rolling Stone. “Fat Bear Week allows the public to choose who they think is the fattest and most successful bear of the year, and it also gives us that opportunity to reflect upon the ecosystem that supports them.”
There are over 2,200 brown bears that live in the Katmai National Park and each spends the weeks leading up to the winter hibernation season eating more and packing on the pounds to survive a months-long period where they don’t eat, drink, or leave their dens. But the winners of Fat Bear Week aren’t just chosen by how round they’ve gotten. Different bears need different things from their excess reserves. For mother bears, the fat that she gains has to also support a nursing schedule for her cubs, while younger males need the extra strength for mating opportunities, Fitz says. While many rangers feel uncomfortable publicly choosing favorites, Fitz admits he has a soft spot for Bear 32, who is also known as Chunk.
Editor’s picks
“Chunk broke his jaw in June, so he’s had to persevere through that pain and suffering,” Fitz says. “Chunk has had to deal with that injury all on his own, and he remains one of the largest, most dominant bears at Brooks River. He’s looking really great going into hibernation this year. It remains to be seen whether he’ll win. I’m often wrong in my predictions. But he’s certainly deserving.”
Trending Stories
Voting for Fat Bear Week continues through Sept. 30, when Explore and Katmai will crown their newest Fattest Bear. But for those who want to get ahead of their bracket planning for next year, the national parks offer live camera feeds of several popular bear spots where viewers both in Alaska and around the world can watch how brown bears live in the wild.
“I’ll admit, honestly, that it is a little strange and goofy,” he says. “But at the same time, it gives us the chance to think about, ‘How is that bear surviving’ and what it had to overcome. And maybe that starts the wheels turning. Ultimately, people can fall in love with these individual animals in the bear population and then say, ‘Let’s look at how we can better the ecosystem that supports them.’”