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Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win again?
NBC News • • nation
Key Points:
- Fat Bear Week, an annual online voting contest in Alaska, celebrates the brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve by highlighting their weight gain from feeding on sockeye salmon before hibernation.
- Last year's winner, Chunk (Bear 32), weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds, is competing again against contenders like Gully (Bear 903), offspring of two-time champion Grazer.
- The 12th annual event features 16 bears in a single-elimination bracket, with public voting open online through September 29, and live streams available to observe the bears in their natural habitat.
- Brown bears in the park gain significant weight by eating up to 30 salmon daily to prepare for winter hibernation, during which they lose about one-third of their body weight.
- The contest, started in 2014, aims to educate the public about brown bears and their behaviors, using photos and stories since the bears are not physically weighed for the competition.
