Pick your fave in park’s ‘Fat Bear Week’
Missing this festival would be un-bear-able.
The annual “Fat Bear Week” of Katmai, Alaska, has officially begun. The weeklong event, which began in 2014, is a celebration of the resilience, adaptability and strength of the local brown bears, according to the National Park Service.
The festival began Wednesday and ends Tuesday. A dozen brown bears are competing in a March Madness-style tournament bracket to see who can become the meatiest bear of all.
The competition highlights the transformation from trim to tubby that bears undertake before they go into winter hibernation. The average adult brown bear goes from between 600 and 900 pounds to nearly 1,000 pounds, the National Park Service explained on its website.
Fans of the competition can follow each paw-tential winner’s eating tour live through the park’s webcams and vote for which bear put on the most pounds.
The bears are usually labeled by numbers, but die-hard fans nicknamed their favorite competitors, including defending champ Otis, as well as 747, who kept his numerical name because of his resemblance to a giant jet.
Park workers use “Fat Bear Week” as a fun way to educate the public about the wide-ranging behaviors of bears as well as their survival habits.
The Post has reached out to Katmai National Park for comment.
Katmai National Park also hosts “Fat Bear Junior,” which follows the local bear cubs. This year, the offspring of competitor 909 won the challenge and will be able to compete with the adult bears.
Official voting for the bears begins at 8 a.m. every day, and the winner will be announced on Saturday at 4 p.m. EDT.