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Yes, my friends, it is that time of year: the leaves begin to change colors, the temperature cools and the time-honored tradition of rooting for your favorite chonky bears at Katmai National Park & Preserve begins.
Fat Bear Week is about body positivity. A fat bear is a healthy bear! Fattening up as winter approaches is a matter of life and death for these bears. The more bulk they put on, the more likely they are to survive the long, cold months.
Celebrate the success of Brooks River’s world-famous bears during Fat Bear Week by placing your vote tomorrow: https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm
Photo courtesy of L. Law / NPS
How it works
Rangers create a March-Madness style bracket pitting individual bears against each other. The public then votes to see who will advance each round. Voting takes place over several days on www.fatbearweek.org. People may vote using any criteria they see fit. In the end, one bear will reign supreme.
2022 Fat Bear Week
This year, Fat Bear Week starts on October 5 and concludes on Fat Bear Tuesday, October 11. In addition to voting during this week-long tournament, there will be a series of online chats on explore.org featuring Mike Fitz, explore.org's resident naturalist, and rangers from Katmai. These chats focus on both the individual bears and Katmai's healthy ecosystem. Throughout the season, you can also tune in to the explore.org bear cams, which offer unprecedented access to the lives of the bears of Brooks River. There are also special live events on a variety of topics hosted weekly throughout the season.
Who's who in the bracket? Check out the competitors and their early season/late season photos here.
More photos can be found on Katmai's Flickr site.
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