For one rabid corner of the internet, October is Octobear, where Katmai National Park & Preserve’s brown bears are pitted against each other in a bracket challenge much like college basketball’s March Madness tournament
corner of the internet, October is Octobear. On October 5th, Katmai National Park & Preserve in southern Alaska kicked off Fat Bear Week, when the park’s brown bears are pitted against each other in a bracket challenge much like college basketball’s. Fans use before and after photos to vote for the bear they think has gained the most weight throughout the summer to prepare for hibernation.
Fat Bear Week began in 2014 as Fat Bear Tuesday. Mike Fitz, a former park ranger at Katmai, noticed that live webcams showing the bears generated a lot of online comments. He and the other rangers let people vote for their favourite fat bear on Facebook. The one-day event garnered just 1,700 votes in 2014. Last year’s week-long contest elicited nearly 800,000. Like its basketball progenitor, fans join office bracket pools and gather to watch the live bear cams set up around the park.
The contest serves two purposes besides gushing over the rotund predators. America’s national parks are often in remote, undeveloped areas. They can be difficult and costly to travel to. Fat Bear Week bringsto fans’ computer screens. “The webcams help to democratise the experience,” says Mr Fitz, now a naturalist for explore.org, which operates the bear cams. “It’s not limited to the fortunate few who can go to the river anymore”.
Second, Fat Bear Week heaps attention upon the bears, and the ecosystems they inhabit. The 2,200 bears of Katmai are so husky because they feed from one of the healthiest salmon runs in the world, says Sara Wolman, a former park ranger. Salmon in the Pacific Northwest have suffered due to overfishing,
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