Fat Bear Week 2021 is here! The brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserves gorged on 4,500-calorie salmon during the summer, and have now surpassed 1,000 pounds. The annual competition to determine the fattest bears in Alaska is being held. Voting can be done online from Sept. 29 through Oct. 5. Mashable will follow all the ursine activity.
We are witnessing greatness.
Nearly all Katmai's bears thrive in an Alaskan environment where the natural world flourishes. For the past 50 years, however, only one bear has been consistently the largest. He is the one that stores the most fat for winter hibernation.
He is bear 747. He is a former MVP of a highly competitive league. He was last year's champion.
Bear 480 and his closest rivals are definitely dominant and impressive. Mike Fitz, a former Katmai ranger and current resident naturalist for wildlife streamers explore.org wrote that his greatest rivals, bear 480, are dominant and impressive.
747 is a very large number. A fat bear is a successful bear in the world of bears, where animals have to survive on their fat to survive the winter.
Fitz noted that 747 has a remarkable ability to grow mass. He observed 747 consume 67,000 calories in just a few hours.
The footage from explore.org, which shows the Katmai's bears in the park's Brooks River isn't a lie.
747 refers to a bear that is naturally large and grows larger every summer. The largest bears are the most dominant, and they use their power to secure a spot in the best fishing spots. 747 defeated 856 the large, aggressive male bear Brooks River's most dominant and powerful bear by intimidating him and moving him from a prime spot. He's also a skilled fisherman and can capitalize on salmon runs that are thriving at will.
747 is somewhat at a disadvantage in the contest's light-hearted Fat Bear Week competition. 747 hibernates are so full of fat that they return to the river in relative good condition, as compared to other more slender and gaunt bears. The summertime transformation of his bear might not be as dramatic as the other bears.
While other bears were only beginning to gain weight, 747 was already massive months ago.
"747 looked ready to hibernate by July," Naomi Boak (media ranger at Katmai National Park & Preserve), said earlier this week. She spent the summer watching bears in the park.
747's transformation in the summer 2021. Credit to n. boak/l. law/nps
However, it is true that Katmai's fat bears have been winners. We can still recognize his greatness, regardless of 747's win this year.
He was already so full by mid-August that it was difficult for him to ascend the riverbank.
Fitz said that he saw the largest and fattest bear he'd ever seen last year. It is a privilege to have seen a bear this big. Fitz also noted that 747, weighing in at around 1,400 pounds, is almost as large.
While 747 might not have won every time, rangers on ground suggested that 747 was the king in past years. In 2018, 747 was in his bear prime, and a ranger observed that "he seems to be more bear than hippopotamus at times."
