It’s almost time for the weirdest (but best) contest for outdoor enthusiasts: Fat Bear Week

Weigh in on which bear you think is the fattest!

By Sarah Joseph Published September 28, 2024

A grizzly bear stands in a woodland clearing. — Zdenek Machacek / Unsplash

Here’s something fun about bears — no, we’re not telling you how to avoid a bear attack when you’re camping. It’s time to cast your vote for the chunkiest bear in 2024 as Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai National Park in Alaska! If you’re unfamiliar with this annual tradition, you could not have found it at a better time. Fat Bear Week is celebrating its 10th anniversary and promises to be a lot of fun.

Vote for your favorite fat bear at Katmai National Park

Black bear in the wild — Mark Saeling / Unsplash

The online event started out in 2014 as a way to celebrate some of Katmai National Park’s largest creatures as they prepare for hibernation. Bears don’t eat or drink while they are in hibernation, so they lose at least one third of their body weight during that time. The fatter the bear, the more likely it is to survive the winter. Their survival depends on gorging on delicacies like salmon from the Brooks River from June to October, and during that time, it’s fascinating to watch them put on the weight.

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Katmai National Park has some of the world’s largest bears, so there’s no better place to find some great contenders for this year’s Fat Bear Champion.

This year, all votes will be cast in a March-madness style competition where bears compete in daily head-to-head matchups for the title of 2024 Far Bear Week Champion. You can rally behind your favorite brown bear by voting at fatbearweek.org.

Voting will start on October 2 and will continue until October 8, but you can already browse this year’s contenders on the Fat Bear Week website. There, you’ll be able to see before and after pictures of each bear, as well as fun facts like how old they are or when each one was first identified.

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National Parks

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