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The winner of the curious “Fat Bear” contest in Alaska has been determined: a huge brown bear with the number 747 and the nickname “Jumbo Jet” has been chosen as the fattest fur animal in Katmai National Park. This season he prevailed over the 32nd contender with the revealing nickname “Chunk” (German for “Klotz”).
Twelve grizzly bears had been running in the national park for a week. In the final of the last two candidates, 747 was the clear winner with a good 68 percent of the votes. The “Count of Lushness” was chosen as champion, announced on Tuesday night (local time) the national park in the northernmost state of the United States.
“Fat and fabulous”
Bear 747 will now follow its destination and go “fat and fabulous” into hibernation. The exact weight of the 16-year-old male is unknown; last year, rangers estimated a record 630 kilograms. That summer, the bear ate so many salmon that its belly seemed to touch the ground, keepers joked in a message.
The burly “Chunk” made it to the final, but in the end the male of about the same age with the wide rump did not make it to the “Jumbo Jet”. In 2019, “Holly” was named the delicious brown bear in Katmai National Park.
650,000 votes cast
For the sixth time, the park in Southwest Alaska hosted “Fat Bear Week.” More than 650,000 votes were cast. Online visitors and bear fans could see before and after photos for a week and choose their favorites.
With the “Fat Bear” contest, the park aims to provide information on the ecosystem and habitat of the more than 2,000 brown bears in the region. In spring the bears are still thin, in autumn they have used up the fat reserves to hibernate. This year, the buffet on the Brooks River, where dozens of grizzly bears fish for salmon from June to October, was particularly large. (SDA / bra)
