Fat Bear Week is here to judge America's largest mammals

Does my bear look big in this? October is when the animals are at their fattest, pre-hibernation. Photo / Mika Brandt, Unsplash

October is a big deal in North America. Autumn – sorry, "fall" – foliage and of course the countdown to Halloween, if you're into that kind of thing - these ingredients make it a supersized month on the US calendar. However, there are few bigger things in the first week of October than these bears.

Fat Bear Week is an annual competition held by the US National Parks and Katmai Conservancy. Since 2015, October 1 has marked the start of "Fat Bear Week".

October is around about peak season for the animals' weight-gain programme, as they prepare for a winter of starvation. After a summer gorging on wild-run salmon the park's animals are ready for hibernation. Grizzly bears are known to lose up to a third of their body mass over winter.

This year's competitors are certainly "fatter than the average bear".

Electoralism I can get behind pic.twitter.com/ir4qHXBFEr

— Fat Bear Week Enthusiast (@andreuu___) September 24, 2020

Rangers have picked the 12 largest of the park's 2,200 bears to go head to head in a public vote. Over successive days these are whittled down in two bear match-ups, until the fattest bear is crowned.

Why is bear weight judged by public vote instead of a set of scales? Firstly, you try and get close enough to weigh a 454kg behemoth with claws the size of dinner plates. Secondly, the event is all about raising awareness for conservation projects in the park.
Fans of the bears instead are asked to vote for winners in match ups online, with the overall winner being decided on "Fat bear Tuesday" on 6 October.

There is only one more week until the #FatBearWeek Competition begins and the Queen of Corpulence, 435 Holly, must defend her 2019 Fat Bear Week champion title. She is up against some big competition, including 2 time #FatBearWeek Champion bear 480 Otis.

NPS Photo/N. Boak pic.twitter.com/wMNM7fnKzI

— Katmai National Park (@KatmaiNPS) September 24, 2020

Eight new heavy-weight contenders are going up against last year's four finalists including 2019 winner, bear 435 also known as Holly "Queen of Corpulence".
Follow along on the live bear cams or Fat Bear website at explore.org/fat-bear-week.

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