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After a week of wild competition, ‘Backpack’ was crowned Fat Bear Week champion on Tuesday.
Backpack, known for his pacifist nature, was judged the heftiest of all the brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. He received 103,344 votes.
Bear 910 finished second with 98,253 votes.
In total, 16 bears took part in the single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. For each matchup, voters chose the bear that best exemplified fatness and success. The brown bear with the most votes advanced to the next round. The tournament and voting took place between Sept. 22 and 29.
Brown bears get fat to survive winter hibernation. The annual tournament celebrates their success in preparing for hibernation.
“Katmai’s brown bears are fattest in late summer and early fall,” the contest website said. “It is the result of a summer-long effort to satisfy their profound hunger and prepare for winter hibernation. During hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and lose one-third of their body weight. Their winter survival depends on accumulating ample fat reserves before entering the den.”
‘Fat bears are successful bears’
To be eligible, a bear had to be present at the Brooks River in Katmai National Park in early summer and late summer, allowing voters to see the bear’s change in body mass through photographs taken by park rangers.
“Fat bears are successful bears,” the website said. “They exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska, a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet.”
Chunk — known officially as Bear 32 — clinched victory last season at an estimated 1,200 pounds. Chunk was defeated in the first round of this year’s competition by Bucky, who went on to lose a faceoff against Backpack, known officially as Bear 89.
ganderson@postmedia.com