The most wonderful time of the twelvemonth is truly here . On Wednesday , Katmai National Park and Preserve ’s annual Fat Bear Week will officially kick off — a testimonial to the months of gorging that bears must undertake to stock up on organic structure fat before the coming winter famine and hibernation . This yr , people will vote on 12 of the heftiest and hunkiest bears that have traveled to the park ’s Brooks River to banquet on salmon this summer , includinglast year ’s winner“Number 435 , ” also known as Holly .
Fat Bear Weekhas been an annual official upshot at Katmai National Park in southwestern Alaska since 2014 . The park is larger than some states and known for its vast , quarantined wild and rich imagination that have made it an idealistic household for browned bear to live . The Brooks River in special is one of the most plentiful natural sources of sockeye Salmon River in Alaska , a fish that’sendangeredin some other fresh water regions that it live . That can make the river a hard-nosed all - you - can - wipe out sideboard for the more than 2,000 bears that are forecast to live in the park . These bears put on mass between June to mid - October before their one-year hibernation .
“ Fat Bear Week has grow beyond my wildest prospect when I first conceived the thought while working as a ranger at Katmai National Park , ” Mike Fitz , a former commando at Katmai National Park and Preserve , said in an electronic mail . “ I think there are several reasons why people seem to make love Fat Bear Week . It ’s positive and provides a abbreviated reprieve from the negativity that often dominates our societal media provender . It highlights known , identifiable bear at Brooks River , which people can watch every daytime on theExplore.orgbearcams . ”
Barrel rolling into Fat Bear Week.Gif: National Park Service/Explore.org
Too truthful .
Hibernation is n’t just taking a really foresightful pile , though . Hibernating animal slow their metabolism down to a crawl , which in crook lowers their pump pace , breathing , and ordinarily body temperature . Bears are still open of doing thing like giving birth while hibernating , but most bodily functions decelerate or finish during that clock time as well . The point of hibernation is to maintain as much energy as possible during the harsh of times — which is the winter for Alaskan brown bears .
dark-brown conduct aren’tfull hibernators , since they can fire up up from their hiding spots during the wintertime if need be and some populations living in warmer areas can go without hibernating at all . But the winter usually takes a bell on them , as they tend to lose a third of their physical structure weight during the season . That intend that every surplus pound of body fat they can stash away beforehand can be the difference between life and death , and it ’s ordinarily a bowelless competition for resourcefulness between the normally lonely beast . So although the participants of Fat Bear Week may not know it , their entering into this yr ’s airstream , documented through constant video and picture surveillance , is a signboard that they ’re crushing it in the game of life .
Bear 747, seen above throwing some shade, is a heavyweight contender for Fattest Bear 2020 and Mike Fitz’s personal favorite.Gif: National Park Service/Explore.org
“ More than anything , Fat Bear Week is an one-year celebration of Katmai ’s rich , intelligent ecosystem and the success of chocolate-brown bears who live within it , ” Fitz said . “ Our world is greatly wounded by extinction , habitat personnel casualty , and clime modification . These topic are aggravate . Most of Katmai National Park is within the Bristol Bay watershed , which is home to the last great Salmon River run on Earth . Fat Bear Week provides us with the chance to ruminate upon and witness an ecosystem go at its fully bring in potential . ”
The story of last twelvemonth ’s winner is especially heartwarming , as is Holly ’s issue to the competition . According to the park , Holly was once a surrogate parent to bear 503 , a rareexampleof adoption in the wild . Last winter , following her win , she went on to deliver and nurse a laddie of her own , and both cub and mother survived through hibernation . Sadly , her older age — at 20 , she ’s go about the distinctive life expectancy of brown bear — and the motive to keep her cub protected while alimentation mean that it’sunlikelyshe’ll be one of the fattest bears this year . But it seems that Holly has lived as long and carry out a life as a bear can , which is all any of us can ask for .
The “ March Madness ” style of Fat Bear Week will pit two bears against one another in a single elimination square bracket , with one to two one shot of vote each day until the finale on Oct. 6 . Voting will be candid each 24-hour interval from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET and details areavailable through Explore.org .
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