Both pictures were of the same bear, but taken months apart. One was from the spring and the other from the fall and the difference in the bear\u2019s size was significant. <\/p>\n
After gorging itself all spring and summer, the fall bear\u2019s waistline was less svelte than it had been after emerging from its den earlier in the year. <\/p>\n
The bear had become, well, pretty fat. <\/p>\n
To share the joy of such adorably plump bears, the small team of rangers put together a one-day competition on social media. <\/p>\n
They posted spring and fall shots of the bears who frequent the falls and had gained the most winter weight and invited folks to vote on which bear they thought should be crowned \u201cfattest bear of the year.\u201d <\/p>\n
That short, small competition has since become a viral sensation, attracting millions of votes from more than 100 countries and spreading out over a week of education and online bear-related celebrations. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gotten really huge,\u201d said Sarah Bruce, park ranger at Katmai National Park and Preserve, with no pun necessarily intended. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s great to have eyes up on this part of the world and do some things for conservation and keeping these ecosystems healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n
For those that want to participate or simply look at some of this year\u2019s chubbiest bears, Fat Bear Week returns next week. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/6YFBE7VKJ5DCZHMXFHGMRGQACI.jpg\")
This image provided by the National Park Service shows members of the cubs 803s at the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska on Sept. 7, 2025. | D. Colson, National Park Service via AP <\/p>\n
Brackets will be revealed on Monday, Sept. 22, voting begins on Tuesday and the park and its partners will be publishing a variety of both adorable and educational media through Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to all of the joy, Fat Bear Week itself brings a very remote, difficult-to-get-to park and makes it very accessible for people to engage with,\u201d Bruce said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFolks from all over the world can connect with Katmai National Park … parks are for the American people. So we want to share that with as many people as we can. They\u2019re public places.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to vote for your favorite bear<\/p>\n
The brackets<\/a> of bears will be published at explore.org<\/a> Sept. 22 on the park\u2019s Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> pages, as well as on The Katmai Conservancy<\/a> page. <\/p>\n Before and after photos of the 12 competing bears will be posted so fans can begin to determine who they think should be 2025\u2019s winner. <\/p>\n \u201cWe tried to put in some compelling stories of the bears,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cIf a bear is a sow with cubs, we\u2019ll maybe include her … and we try to include the more dominant bears, some of the less dominant bears, we try to have younger bears in there as well, just to give like a whole spectrum of the activity that we see on the river.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruce reiterated that this is one way to show folks a varied cross-section of the park\u2019s ecosystems. Millions might be able to login via social media remotely, but only 30 thousand or so visitors make it to the massive, remote national park every year. <\/p>\n Matchups are open for voting Sept. 23-30 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT at explore.org but folks can also follow the action on the social media feeds of all the participating organizations. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll post twice a day throughout the next two weeks, just introducing the bears who are facing off that day and then who the winner of the rounds are in the evening,\u201d Bruce said. <\/p>\n The individual winners will advance, and the ultimate winner will be announced the evening of Sept. 30. <\/p>\n Fat and happy<\/p>\n As for the winners, each bear is a winner in a way. <\/p>\n \u201cA fat bear is a healthy bear,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cTheir prize is the millions of salmon that came up the river this year and surviving into the next season.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s those salmon that are the founders of the feast, and the reason the public gets to witness such cute, fat bears at all. <\/p>\n \u201cWe get billions of salmon in this watershed that come up every year,\u201d Bruce said. \u201cThe reason it has lasted so sustainably and still continues to be a very strong run is because of the indigenous, traditional, ecological knowledge that we have in this area, and the local indigenous people informing how to continue this really successful run.\u201d <\/p>\n Bruce credits the Yup\u2019ik, Sugpiaq, and Dena\u2019ina communities for helping to steward such a healthy ecosystem for the bears and, subsequently, for the fun annual tradition that is Fat Bear Week. <\/p>\n Fans will have to wait for Monday to meet the new competitors, but in the meantime there\u2019s still plenty of bear watching that can be done through Katmai National Park\u2019s webpage and its social media channels. There are even resources for educators who want to bring Fat Bear Week into the classroom. <\/p>\n For new fans, however, there is one running story to follow. For the last two years, bear 128 \u2014 affectionately nicknamed \u201cGrazer\u201d \u2014 has been voted \u201cfattest bear of the year.\u201d <\/p>\n Will this be the year that another bear takes the crown? You\u2019ll have to login to find out. <\/p>\n