Decorate the halls and blow the trumpets. Light up whatever is making that white smoke they use in the Vatican, because a new tyrant king has been named. Online voters have declared a bear named Grazer the fattest bear in the country, for the second year in a row. Well, kinda—Grazer, at least, is the fattest brown bear living in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.
As with any great story of victory, the satisfying ending comes after a period of hardship. Grazer was anointed by popular vote, defeating his most hated rival, Chunk, with 71,248 votes out of 30,468. How brutal was the rivalry? Chunk literally killed Grazer’s baby. According to the official bear report, 19-year-old Grazer’s two cubs were with him in the water at Brooks River Park in July when they were swept away by a waterfall—heading right for Chunk. Chunk, the river’s largest bear, attacked, and killed one of them before Grazer could intervene. The surviving cub placed second in the Fat Bear Junior competition in late September.
Of course, the two bears did not know that they were competing for the title of the biggest bear. Bears, they don’t use the internet.
This annual competition started in 2014 and has become a popular celebration for omnivores. Bears being bears, the competition to see who is the fattest is completely subjective, as trying to get them on the scale can be very dangerous. Instead, viewers can tune in to live streams of the Brooks River and watch bears fish for salmon. That’s an important part of their effort to gain as much weight as possible before hibernation between November and April. At that time. bears will not eat or drink, so the fatter they get, the greater their ability to survive.
“Fat Bear Week transcends political divides. It’s an election where every candidate is eligible for office,” said Charline Annenberg, founder of Explore.org, a charity that provides live webcams for the event, allowing voters to see their competitors. fishing for salmon. “The bears have shown their loyalty, skill and growth. Each one aims to achieve the same goal – to survive the winter.”
While Fat Bear Week can help educate the public about bears, thankfully it doesn’t need to make an appeal to help save these animals. Brown bears are not considered endangered, and in fact, according to the World Wildlife Fund, “some populations are doing very well.” A large group of Alaskan brown bears, living in Bristol Bay, a few miles from Katmai National Park, is under threat from a proposed, highly controversial, gold and copper mine.
Hail to our rotund, rubenesque, ursine queen. Long may he reign, many salmon may he eat, and good luck to the three peat next year.