Katmai National Park’s “Fat Bear Week” Is HERE

Fat Bear week

We all love a good bracket competition.

From college basketball’s March Madness brackets, to a simple beer pong bracket with your buddies, ya gotta love the friendly competition.

However, this one might be one of my favorites.

We’re talking about the Katmai National Park & Nature Preserve’s Fat Bear Week.

The annual competition is set up in a bracket style full of 12 of the biggest brown bears at Katmai National Park, Alaska, in an effort to see which one is a fan favorite.

The website states it’s:

“A way to celebrate the  resilience, adaptability and strength of Katmai’s brown bears.”

According to CNN, the park also provides colorful bios and before and after photos of the bears.

For example, it states for bear 32 Chunk that he is:

“Consistently one of the largest and most dominant bears at the falls. In previous years, he weighed an estimated 1,200 lbs. in fall.

He frequently occupies the best fishing spots on the river and has access to the best mating opportunities.”

The park says:

“128 Grazer is one of the larger and more dominant females to fish [Brooks Falls]. She can be an especially defensive and assertive bear when she has cubs, or when defending a prime fishing location.”

Voting kicked off today at noon ET, and runs through October 11th.

The site also provides a live cam from the river, so you can check in on your favorite bear.

The competition is a fun way to educate people on how bears survive before they go into hibernation for the winter.

Long story short… they get fat AF.

Check out these THICC BOIS…

There’s also a Junior competition for young bears:

A beer bottle on a dock

STAY ENTERTAINED

A RIFF ON WHAT COUNTRY IS REALLY ABOUT

A beer bottle on a dock