World

Race is on for Alaska's bulkiest grizzly

October 6, 2022 2:30 pm

[Photo Credit: BBC News]

For humans, staying warm in the winter often means swapping out flimsy tank tops for thick parkas. For Alaskan bears, it means eating a jaw-dropping 500lb (225 kg) of fresh salmon.

These bulking grizzlies are the focal point of Fat Bear Week – a highly anticipated online bracket that pits the portly mammals at Alaska’s Katmai National Park against one another, with voters crowning the fattest of them all.

The competition is stiff this year: Otis, a large adult bear with the record for most Fat Bear Week wins at four, is back to defend his title.

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He once ate 42 salmon in one sitting, and his fishing skills and patience are hard to beat.

But Bear 747, winner of Fat Bear Week 2020, might give Otis a run for his money. He is one of the largest bears on earth, weighing as much as 1,400lb (635kg). Most bears know they can’t compete with him.

The winner of Fat Bear Week 2022 remains to be seen. Voting is open until 11 October – Fat Bear Tuesday – when the champion will be crowned.

Until then, people can watch their favourite bears via Livestream and follow their journey as they pile on their gains for the winter and feast at Alaska’s Brooks River, located in Katmai National Park’s sprawling eight-million-acre reserve.

Organisers of the “extremely popular” Fat Bear extravaganza say viewers tune in from almost every country in the world and have taken quite a liking to the charismatic creatures.