A competition seeking the fattest bear has crowned its winner after it was temporarily postponed due to a vote-tampering scandal.
The annual Fat Bear Week competition sees people across the world vote on which brown bear at an Alaskan national park packed on the most pounds.
Bears spend the summer fishing and eating as much as possible in preparation for hibernating over winter when little but sleep is on the agenda.
Katmai National Park officials who run the competition post pictures of the pudgy bears in a series of knock out rounds and let voters decide who wins.
But this year organisers realised there was something fishy with the voting. They said: "Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed.
"It appears someone has decided to spam the Fat Bear Week poll, but fortunately it is easy for us to tell which votes are fraudulent. We have discarded the fake votes".
The apparent fakery was in the run off between two bears, a seasoned veteran of the competition a massive male dubbed 747, and his competitor Holly (also known as 435).
Organisers found and discounted around 9,000 fake votes leading the true winner, 747, to get through to the next round. The huge hunter went on to win the eigth annual Fat Bear Week, his second win after a similiar, albeit scandless, victory in 2020.
He was first spotted in the park by staff in 2004 and since then has grown to become one of the largest brown bears on earth.
The competitors have ready access to the bountiful Brooks River, famed for its jumping salmon and the bears waiting to snap them up.
The competition has become a social media sensation with over a million votes cast in this year's run off.
Crowning the victor in a pun-laden statement, a spokesperson for the park said: "Congratulations to 747, our 2022 Fat Bear Week champion! Though he may be blissfully unaware of his two titles, the gains are real. In the bear world, fat is fit and these chunky contenders have been working tirelessly to pack on the pounds necessary for survival.
"Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Fat Bear Week. We had a record-breaking 1,027,655 votes; that’s a lot of love for these flourishing fat-tabulous bears!
"And now for a well deserved post-meal nap (or successful hibernation)."
In the final round 747 ran off against a female bear, dubbed 901, who clearly impressed voters with her alarming gains. Despite not winning she picked up some fans on her weight gaining odyssey.
An official said: "901 made a strong start in her 1st Fat Bear Week appearance. Expect big things in the future!"
