Wide-bodied 747 crowned state’s fattest bear

In Alaska’s annual battle of heavyweights, a salmon- chomping bruin named 747 — like the jetliner — has emerged as the most fabulously fat. The bear, one of more than 2,200 brown bears roaming Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, was victorious on Tuesday after a week of frenzied online voting in what has become an international sensation: Fat Bear Week. Winner 747 was a worthy champion, the park said in a statement. “This year he really packed on the pounds, looking like he was fat enough to hibernate in July and yet continuing to eat until his belly seemed to drag along the ground by late September,” the park said. Fat Bear Week pits 12 bears against each other in playoff- style brackets. Bear fans compared photos and voted online.