Voting begins for Alaska’s Fat Bear Week after one contestant was killed in an attack

Voting in Katmai Nationwide Park’s famed Fats Bear Week was underway Wednesday after a bear killed one in every of this yr’s rivals and delayed the bracket reveal by a day.

Bear #469 attacked and killed bear #402 on Monday morning at Brooks River within the Alaska park, the Nationwide Park Service mentioned in a launch, pushing Monday’s bracket divulge to Tuesday.

The assault and the next killing have been captured dwell on webcams which have been arrange within the park to observe the bears all summer season. The nonprofit group discover.org, which hosts and broadcasts the bear livestreams, held a dwell dialog Monday to debate the assault.

It was not instantly clear what prompted the incident.

“Nationwide parks like Katmai defend not solely the wonders of nature, but in addition the cruel realities,” spokesperson Matt Johnson mentioned within the park service launch. “Every bear seen on the webcams is competing with others to outlive.”

Bear #469 was not included in the bracket, launched Tuesday.

How Fats Bear Week works

Fats Bear Week, which the park service calls “an annual celebration of success,” places 12 bears within the Alaskan Peninsula to the take a look at earlier than they head into hibernation for the winter.

Voting takes place over seven days, culminating in Fats Bear Tuesday, when one bear is topped the fattest of the season.

“Individuals might vote utilizing any standards they see match,” the Nationwide Park Service mentioned. “In the long run, one bear will reign supreme.”

Discover.org encourages voters to “vote for the bear you consider greatest exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears.”

“Fats equals survival” for bears, who head into their dens for months with none meals and will lose as much as one-third of their physique weight throughout that point, the park service mentioned. Surviving hibernation means bulking up on a yr’s price of salmon and different snacks in solely six months.

Giant male brown bears can weigh as much as 1,500 kilos in coastal areas or as much as 500 kilos in inside areas, in line with the Alaska Division of Fish and Sport, and they are often 30% to 50% bigger than feminine brown bears.

They weigh the least after they go away hibernation within the spring and might enhance their weight by greater than 50% by the point they re-enter the den within the fall.

The fats bears of 2024

This yr’s contest pits eight bears towards each other within the first spherical of the single-elimination bracket. Voting started Wednesday and can proceed Thursday.

4 extra bears earned a bye to the second spherical of voting Friday and Saturday.

In spherical one, Bear #909 Jr., who received this yr’s junior contest, bested Bear #519, a feminine lately unbiased from her household. Bear #909 Jr. will now attempt to beat Bear #128, also called Grazer, a mom bear who holds final yr’s Fats Bear title.

Grazer is described as one of many “most formidable, profitable, and adaptable bears” at Brooks River, in line with the park service. In July, each of her cubs have been “swept over Brooks Falls” towards Bear #32, also called Chunk, who attacked and injured one in every of them earlier than Grazer may come to their rescue.

The injured cub died later, and the surviving cub competed in Fats Bear Junior 2024, in line with the park service.

Chunk, who the park service mentioned is the “most dominant bear on the Brooks River,” has a bye and can face the winner of the Thursday matchup between Bear #856, a really giant grownup male who is likely one of the greatest on the river, and Bear #504, a mom bear and newcomer to the competitors.

In one other spherical one faceoff, Bear #903, a smaller male and one other Fats Bear Week beginner, beat Bear #909, the mom of the junior contest’s winner. He’ll go head-to-head with Bear #747, a two-time Fats Bear Week victor so giant he was named after an airplane and was as soon as estimated to weigh 1,400 kilos.

The ultimate spherical one matchup is between Bear #151, a big grownup male nicknamed Walker” and Bear #901, a feminine who returned to the river alone after her first litter of cubs didn’t survive. The winner will transfer on to spherical two to fulfill Bear #164, a male who has grown rather a lot in the previous few years, now showing about as tall and so long as Bear #747.

Voting concludes Tuesday, and the fattest bear can be declared the winner.