US national park crowns 'fabulous' Fat Bear Week 2020 winner

Bear 747 beats off the competition to be crowned 2020's heavyweight champion of Katmai National Park and Preserve
Brown bears lose around a third of their body weight during their winter hibernation, so bulking up in advance is essential
via REUTERS
David Child7 October 2020

Fat shaming is undoubtedly a grisly business. Unless you happen to be an Alaskan brown bear, that is.

In fact, the chunky inhabitants of the state's Katmai National Park and Preserve are celebrated for their heft and now have a new heavyweight champion in their ranks.

After a week of voting, the park has crowned bear 747 the winner of Fat Bear Week 2020.

The annual tournament celebrates the success of the pre-hibernation preparations by bears at Brooks River and between September 30 and October 6 social media followers weigh in on which animal was the fattest of them all.

"For each set of two bears, vote for one who you think is the fattest," the competition's website explained. "The bear with the most votes advances. Only one will be crowned champion of Fat Bear Week."

Announcing the winner of the knock-out competition on Tuesday, the park said in a Twitter post: "You’ve crowned the Earl of Avoirdupois, bear 747, the 2020 Fat Bear Week Champion."

It added: "No longer the runner-up, 747 fulfills the fate of the fat and fabulous as he heads off to hibernation."

According to the competition's website, 747 appears to weigh at least 1,400 pounds and has become one of the most dominant bears at the park.

"He’s found most often in the jacuzzi or the far pool," 747's online biography reads.

"Only rival males of comparable size, of which there are very few, can challenge him for fishing spots."

Meanwhile, in a nod to all of this year's competitors, including second-placed Chunk, organisers of the tournament said its contestants "exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska", describing it as "a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet".

The tournament, which helps raise funds for conservation, research, and protection of the park's hefty inhabitants, coincides with the bears being at their biggest in preparation for their months-long hibernation during the winter.

The animals lose around a third of their body weight during their hibernation, so bulking up in advance is essential.

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