Brown bear 128, known as “Grazer” was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2023. Hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that “celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears” ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, according to the National Park Service. The champion is decided by votes for the bear believed to “best exemplify fatness and success in brown bears,” officials wrote on the contest website.
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Brown bear 747 was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2020 and 2022.
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Brown bear 435, known as “Holly,” was voted the Fat Bear Week champion in 2019. During the winter, brown bears may lose up to one-third of their body weight as they rely only on their fat reserves, according to the NPS.
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Brown bear 409, known as “Beadnose” was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2015 and 2018. Here she is pictured in early 2018.
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Beadnose was voted the Fat Bear Week champion in 2015 and 2018. Here she is pictured on Sept. 30, 2018. Survival for brown bears depends on eating a year’s worth of food in six months ahead of hibernation in the winter, the NPS states.
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Brown bear 480, known as “Otis”, is a four-time champion of Fat Bear Week for the years 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021. Here he is pictured standing in a river at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska on July 26, 2021 (top), and after fattening up ahead of hibernation on September 16, 2021.
N.Boak (top)/C. Spencer/Explore.org/U.S. National Park Service/Handout Via Reuters