Fat Bear Week 2021
A bear-y interesting competition kicks off September 29-October 5.
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Katmai Conservancy, Katmai National Park and Preserve, and explore.org are holding a single-elimination tournament to crown the Fat Bear Week 2021 Champion, and every vote counts. Put down your sandwich, wipe the crumbs from your keyboard or the smudge off your screen, and take advantage of this opportunity to celebrate Katmai’s brown bears.
Learn more about the lives and history of various bears with a series of live events hosted by explore.org throughout the week. Then, make your decision using the “march madness” style bracket to help determine the winner.
Resilience. Adaptability. Strength. These are the qualifiers recommended to consider when voting, but we prefer to add in a few qualifiers of our own. We’re thinking of basing our decision on which bear appears to be the most photogenic, the balance between threat and cuteness, and, most of all, all-around plumpness.
Not to sway the outcome, honey, but our top 3 are:
Popeye
Photo: Courtesy of National Park Service / explore.org
He’s enormous, plus his thick legs and shoulder hump perfectly toe the line of fat and fierce.
747
Photo: Courtesy of National Park Service / explore.org
As last year’s winner, he knows how to throw his weight around – all 1,400+ pounds of it.
Grazer
Photo: Courtesy of National Park Service / explore.org
The only female in our top crew, her lighter fur really highlights her eyes… and girth.
We encourage you to go to the website and pick your favorites. Voting starts today.
