Bear 747 has been crowned a chunky king yet again.
The stout beast proved he is the heaviest and hungriest of them all after he was declared the winner at Fat Bear Week, having previously earned the title in 2020. The tournament asks the online public to vote for the grizzly bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park that has gained the most weight from summer to fall.
747 led the polls by 10,000 votes against 901, a female bear who fiercely “defends her fishing spots from other bears.” Although 747 was mostly unaware of his great performance and status as an internet sensation, Fat Bear Week founder Mike Fitz said the tournament is a good way to educate the public on bears’ preparation for the winter.
“It’s important to think about how bears survive, why they survive, what they need to survive, and also to celebrate the ecosystem at Katmai that supports them,” Mr Fitz, who endorsed 747, told BuzzFeed.
“He is the largest bear I’ve ever seen. He’s always super fat in the fall, and he’s just a great bear to watch ... a tough competitor, one of the more dominant bears at the waterfall,” Mr Fitz added about the blocky-muzzled bear with a floppy right ear.
“The votes are in- you’ve decided to upgrade to fish class & fly w/ 747!” the Katmai National Park announced on Twitter after the polls were closed on Tuesday.
The park said that although 901 made a strong start in her first time competing at Fat Bear Week, she later experienced troubling tummy turbulence.
The heaviest grizzly bears often weigh more than 1,200 pounds (544 kg) in late summer and fall, while adult females are about one-third to one-half smaller than their male counterparts because they waste more energy raising their cubs, according to the park.
747 was first spotted in 2004 but he was too young to compete with larger bears for salmons. But those days are gone for the beast, who at nearly 1,400 pounds is now one of the largest brown bears on earth.
744’s victory comes despite a spam attack apparently to tip the scales in favour of 435 Holly, the 2019 winner.
“Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed,” the park tweeted.
Earlier this week, the competition was rocked with a bit of scandal. After some votes seemed to come from fake email addresses connected to a few IP addresses, apparently to tip the scales in favour of 435 Holly, the park tweeted: “Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed.”
Luckily, the team was able to filter out all the fake votes and declare a fair winner.
Fat Bear Week started in 2014 and has become a fun annual tradition that spreads awareness about grizzly bears in Katmai National Park and their preparations for the long winter hibernation.
The contest is held in early autumn because that’s when the bears are at their stoutest, having fattened up with salmon in preparation for the long Alaska winter, during which they’ll hibernate without eating or drinking.
