ALASKA, USA — Bulked up with big bellies, the bears at Katmai National Park in Alaska are just about ready to hibernate for the winter. Before the massive mammals literally bear down for a months-long snooze, the park wants you to vote on whose poundage is most impressive.
Welcome to Fat Bear Week.
Here's how it works: Fat Bear Week runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, and voting opens at 9 a.m. PT on Wednesday. You can download the Katmai National Park Fat Bear Week bracket and fill it out based on which bear you think deserves to be crowned fattest of the year, then make your picks online between 12 and 9 p.m. ET. It's a single elimination tournament, so between each matchup, the bear with the most votes advances to the next round.
Twelve bulbous bears are on the bracket this year, from a 9-month-old newcomer identified as "132's Spring Cub" to Bear 747, who was first identified in 2004 and likely weighs more than 1,400 pounds. Meet all the Fat Bear contenders here.
The annual tournament is meant to celebrate the bears' "success in preparation for winter hibernation" in the challenging Katmai ecosystem. Teachers interested in participating in Fat Bear Week with their classrooms can also invite Katmai rangers and naturalists to speak with students.
If you want to catch a glimpse of the fat bears before they retreat to their dens, watch the livestream of Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park everyday on Explore.org.
Fat Bear Week first began as Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014, and has since grown into a highly-anticipated end-of-year event.
According to Fat Bear Week, some of the largest brown bears on the planet feast on salmon at Brooks Falls from late June until mid October, one of the only places bears can feed on salmon for so long.
