Why an American National Park Holds a "Fat Bear Week" Contest

We have all gained a little more weight from time to time, but for brown bears, accumulating extra pounds means making the difference between life and death.

They can hibernate for six months of the year, which means that they must gorge themselves from July to September to spend the winter and spring mating season.

Katmai National Park – a sprawling eight million acre reserve in Alaska – is making a mockery of this process by once again holding its annual "Bear Fat Week".

The week – long event, which encourages fans to vote on social networks for their favorite animals, will pit the bears against each other in the playoffs, until the day is over. one of them wins the 2018 title for his stocky stature.

The contest started in 2014 and has been gaining popularity ever since.

The online attention found online is a strange phenomenon to understand for park staff – but they embrace it, enthusiastically announcing the start of the "meaty season" earlier this week.

"Big Bear Week has started as a way to engage the public with our bears, and if people are interested in bears, they tend to want to protect them," Ranger Russ Taylor said.

The park is home to the Brooks River, a major salmon management area that provides abundant food for some 2,200 bears in the park.

Ranger Taylor explains that, like us, bears usually have a "switch" that tells them to stop eating when they are full. But this goes out in the fall during a phase called binge eating, where they feel the need to eat constantly.

For adult men, this can mean packing 400 to 500 kg (180 to 225 kg) in a few months by consuming hundreds of pounds of fat salmon.

In the early hours of hibernation, some people will greatly exceed the 450 to 550 kg (1,000 lb. to 1,200 lb.) range, with the goal of losing up to one-third of their body weight when temperatures drop to # 1. 39 to -37 ° C in the park.

It's not just the Fat Bear Week that gives celebrity bears Katmai – some are also stars of an online webcam feed that has amassed thousands of fans in countries around the world.

"People who have never been to the park and are likely never to go can watch the webcams in such a quasi-religious way that they know the bears very well," says Taylor.

Foresters and attentive spectators notice that each bear is known for its personality, appearance and even habits.

"You start to notice the extent of their ears, what kind of muzzle do they have … Some like to dive for salmon, others like to wait for the salmon to come to them."

So what makes a champion of Fat Bear Week? Large volumes can help the bears become a fan favorite, but the before-and-after photos posted by Park staff also highlight the most impressive gains.

A few days later, this year's fans are already starting to get interested – but they are also fighting with their favorite bears.

"They say – oh, you dated this bear on September 30 and others on September 20 so that this bear has an unfair advantage!" Ranger Taylor says.

"We have so much fun with it – it's really funny to watch human behavior."

On Facebook, a user was seduced on Thursday by the size and progress of Bear 32 / Chunk, calling it "absolute champion unit" and "round boy", common internet phrases referring to round animals.

Another agreed, stating that his competitor 812 "had no chance".

Although the competition is a little absurd, it also conveys an important message, helping to generate a new interest in conservation in the era of social media.

"When conservation issues arise, you can count on these people to speak out on behalf of the parks when you want to make sure the entire area is protected," said Ranger Taylor.

"They are majestic creatures and they give you a sense of respect and wonder by watching them do what they have to do."

"It's so important to the human spirit that we have animals like this … and I want future generations to have the same ability to be inspired in this way."

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