Fat Bear Week 2022: Thousands tune in to vote for their favourite bear

Thousands are tuning in for Fat Bear Week, an annual Alaskan competition to crown the plumpest bear in Alaska.

The Brooks River bears at Katmai National Park’s eight million acre location are measured against each other to discern their “success in preparation for winter hibernation”, organisers said.

An online bracket will run, with partners the National Park Service and Explore.org.

Voters can choose their favourite bear in each match, with the final winner announced on ­Tuesday.

The week, running from Wednesday 5 to Tuesday 11 October, was previously a day-long festival called Fat Bear Tuesday, but it was ­­­extended in 2014 due to its popularity.

­­­Fan may also check in on their chosen candidate via the Explore webcam, as well as before and after pictures and life stories to see their journey to stoutness. This includes their favourite fish (with some less fussy than others), personalities and, critically, their weight.

The website offers a number of educational workshops too, explaining the importance of bear language, fat used by bears for hibernation and a comprehensive history of Alaska’s fattest bears on the reserve.

Mike Fitz, a former ranger and the Fat Bear Week founder, told the New York Times that the “celebration of the bear’s success”, which began as a way to bring more visitors to Katmai, has “spiralled”.

He said: “I thought it would be a quirky thing Katmai could do every year, and it is, but I did not expect it to be this popular.

“I suddenly realized that people are connecting with these animals just as strongly as they would in person.

“People learn more about brown bears and the salmon this way, and hopefully that translated to a greater sense of care for this remarkable place, as well as for bears and salmon around the world.”

This year there are 12 bears taking part, including Otis, last year’s standing champion at a whopping 900lb.

Almost in its 10th year, the competition tracks these bears from summer to autumn where bears can go from 600lb to more than 1,000lb.