Everybody has some particular expertise, one thing they’re distinctive at. Within the animal kingdom, these particular skills play a key function in survival. Some animals have developed really uncommon diversifications: impeccable camouflage, razor-sharp tooth, eager listening to, and extra.
The grizzly bears of Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect in Alaska, which occurs to have the largest population of bears of any national park US, have developed a very distinctive talent, one at which they’re arguably the very best on the planet. Katmai’s grizzly bears are extraordinarily good…at getting fats.
That is proper, the bears of Katmai are the elite in relation to packing on the kilos. Their expertise have grow to be so legendary that the Nationwide Park Service has created a week-long occasion to have fun their skills. The occasion? Fats Bear Week!
2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of Fats Bear Week, and it guarantees to be greater than ever.
What Is Fats Bear Week?
Sure, it is an actual occasion, and no, individuals are not invited to compete
Brown Bear at Brooks River, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska
First issues first, what precisely is Fats Bear Week? At its core, Fats Bear Week is a celebration of the largest chonks (that is the technical time period) in Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect.
Fats Bear Week 2024, which runs October 2-8, marks the fruits of the fat-gaining summer time feeding of the grizzly bears within the park. Equivalent to the autumn salmon run, Fats Bear Week is a time when many of the bears across the park congregate alongside the primary river.
Viewing platforms and live-streaming video cameras (known as bear cams) are arrange at sure “pinch factors” in order that guests and on-line viewers can see as many bears as doable.
Enjoyable Reality!
Regardless of garnering hundreds of views throughout Fats Bear Week, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect is one in all
the least-visited national parks in the US
, so visiting in-person shouldn’t be solely thrilling, however surprisingly serene.
Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect is one in all the best national parks in the US for safe bear viewing, so these platforms and Bear Cams are operating all through the summer time, however viewership goes up considerably throughout Fats Bear Week. Because the week goes on, over 1,000,000 folks tune in to see simply how a lot the bears can gorge themselves.
Brooks Falls is the spotlight of Fats Bear Week, and Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect on the whole. Simple fishing makes Brooks Falls a popular viewing area, and bear cam watchers and reside guests are inclined to congregate at this distinctive spot.
Whereas Fats Bear Week could also be too near schedule a go to this 12 months, visitors are at all times welcome to benefit from the festivities in particular person at Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska.
How Does Fats Bear Week Work?
The multiple million viewers of Fats Bear Week solid their votes for the fattest bear
Grizzly Bear in late summer time alongside Brooks River, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska
Okay, so it is bought a cute identify and a few cute bears, however is Fats Bear Week actually something greater than watching a bunch of grizzly bears eat for every week? You wager it’s!
Park rangers at Katmai National Park and Preserve and members of the Katmai Conservancy work collectively to create an exhilarating winner-takes-all fashion event. Fats Bear Week has its personal web site the place visitors can meet the bears, which every have their very own identifiers.
After studying up on the bears, viewers can flick thru the brackets rangers have created in basic one-on-one match-ups. The winners of every bracket transfer to the following spherical till, on the finish of the week, the champion of chonkiness is topped.
Fats Bear Week Bracket, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska
Earlier than Fats Bear Week begins, viewers create their very own brackets in true March Insanity style. They’ll then champion for his or her prime choose, commenting on the reside feed to drum up help.
In 2023, 1.4 million votes have been solid throughout Fats Bear Week, according to the National Park Service.
About Fats Bear Week
Cannot get sufficient of the fats bears? Fats Bear Week additionally has a Fats Bear Junior competitors, that includes bears between one and 5 years outdated. This 12 months’s Fats Bear Junior contestants are 806’s Yearling, 910’s 2.5-year-old, 909 junior, and 128’s Spring Cub.
Why Does Fats Bear Week Matter?
Whereas Fats Bear Week is sweet enjoyable, it highlights an essential survival intuition
Bear about to catch a salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska, USA
Fats Bear Week is the largest sporting occasion of the 12 months (objectively talking), but it surely’s additionally one of the essential weeks for the grizzlies of Katmai.
Jokes apart, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect is one in all the most scenic national parks in Alaska, and a really unforgiving panorama for even its apex predators, particularly in winter. Meals is scarce, and hibernation is a should for survival. The large weight acquire on show throughout Fats Bear Week is essential for the bears’ survival.
Bear 747 at Brooks Falls, Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect, Alaska. Bear 747 is likely one of the largest bears in Katmai and a former Fats Bear Week Champion.
Grizzly bears in Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect acquire round 50% of their physique weight throughout late summer time and early fall, with a number of the largest male bears gaining 500 kilos earlier than going into hibernation.
Grizzly Bear Common Weight | 700–900 kilos |
Grizzly Bear Peak Weight | 1,200-1,400 kilos |
Grizzly Bear Weight Loss Throughout Hibernation | 15-30% |
The fat-rich salmon that runs by means of the Alaskan rivers is likely one of the quickest methods for a bear to “bulk up” for winter. Bears congregate at weak factors like Brooks Falls in Katmai for simple catching. Essentially the most adept bears devour an estimated 40 salmon per day throughout peak occasions (like Fats Bear Week).
Whereas male grizzly bears are typically bigger than feminine bears, the feminine bears usually edge out the males in relation to Fats Bear Week votes. Feminine bears have an additional incentive to bulk up, as cubs are often born mid-hibernation.
Earlier Winners Of Fats Bear Week
4 former winners have been noticed at Brooks Falls, consuming their strategy to one other title
Fats Bear Week is coming into its tenth 12 months, and most of the earlier champions are returning to defend their titles. Take a look at the highest bears returning to Brooks Falls this 12 months:
Fats Bear Week Champion | 12 months(s) Received | Key Attributes |
|---|---|---|
128 Grazer | 2023 | First-time champion in 2023; identified for her sturdy protecting instincts over her cubs |
747 | 2022, 2020 | One in every of Katmai’s largest bears, peaking at almost 2,000 kilos; dominant bear who stakes out the very best fishing spots; distinctive ear harm |
480 Otis | 2021, 2017, 2016, 2014 | Fan-favorite grizzly bear and the primary Fats Bear Week champion; geriatric bear identified for his endurance and tolerance for different bears |
Holly | 2019 | Ranger favourite; One of the vital human-habituated bears within the park; identified for adopting an deserted cub (who now additionally fishes at Brooks Falls) |
Beadnose was the Fats Bear Week champion in each 2015 and 2018, however has not been seen since going into hibernation after her victory in 2018. She was first recognized as a 2.5-year-old in 1999, making her almost 22 at her final sighting. The typical lifespan of grizzly bears is round 20 years outdated.
Given the advancing age of a number of of the returning champions, 2024 could be an opportunity for a brand new champion to take the trophy, as 128 Grazer was in a position to do in 2023.
Fats Bear Week is likely one of the most unusual celebrations within the US, and a testomony to the survival of Katmai Nationwide Park and Protect’s resident grizzly bears. Fats Bear Week 2024 begins October 2, and preparations are effectively underway. The primary spherical of match-ups has been posted, and the 11 bears competing for the title have been chosen.
4 returning champions will probably be competing in Fats Bear Week this 12 months, together with the defending champion 128 Grazer. Champions or not, each bear at Brooks Falls is combating, and consuming, for survival. Pleased Fats Bear Week!
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