Gentle giant Backpack wins Alaska’s Fat Bear Week

The contest, which is in its ۱۲th year, celebrates the resilience of the ۲,۲۰۰ brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula.

After a week of fierce competition, Backpack emerged victorious as Fat Bear Week champion, the heftiest bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.

The nonprofit running the longstanding contest announced on Tuesday that the bear, known for his pacifist nature, was the winner with more than ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ votes, giving him a close win over Bear ۹۱۰ with just over ۵۰ percent of the poll.

The contest, which is in its ۱۲th year, celebrates the resilience of the ۲,۲۰۰ brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner towards the Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week was started in ۲۰۱۴ as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies.

Last year’s winner, Chunk — known officially as Bear ۳۲ — clinched his victory at an estimated ۱,۲۰۰ pounds. He was handily defeated in the first round of competition this year by Bucky, who went on to lose a face-off against Backpack, known officially as Bear ۸۹.

The event this year featured ۱۶ bears vying for the heavyweight title in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online, and the winner was declared on Tuesday evening after the final poll closed. The public could watch the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding on their favourite.

“Fat bears are successful bears,” the nonprofit says on its website. These bears gorge themselves on the abundant salmon that return to the Brooks River starting in late June. It is there that they can stuff themselves to accumulate the fat reserves they will need to survive the winter. To be featured in the contest, the bears must frequent the area around the river.

Son of ex-champion

Backpack is the son of former Fat Bear Week champion Holly, who introduced him to the Brooks River when he was a first-year cub in ۲۰۰۶. His name was inspired by his habit of climbing onto his mother’s back when they swam the river. This year’s fans cheered on Backpack in the contest’s Instagram comments, noting his lineage and reputation as a gentle giant.

“Unlike many large adult male bears, Backpack hasn’t shown much aggression toward his competitors,” his contestant profile reads.

Backpack uses his “quiet strength” rather than brawling and is often seen in wildlife cameras sitting on a rock downstream, appearing to take in the scenery around him.

He defeated Bear ۹۱۰, who is also the daughter of a former champion: ۴۰۹ Beadnose.

Adult male brown bears typically weigh between ۶۰۰ and ۹۰۰ pounds (۲۷۰-۴۱۰kg) in midsummer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon, large males can weigh more than ۱,۰۰۰ pounds (۴۵۴kg). Females are about one-third smaller. Bears may each eat as many as ۳۰ fish a day this time of year, working hard to eat a year’s worth of food in about six months.

During winter hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and can lose one-third of their body weight.

Fat Bear Week’s contestants also included five bear families, in recognition of the record-high number of families and cubs at the river this summer. A mother must feed and protect her cubs while also eating enough calories to sustain herself through hibernation. Cubs often face the risk of attack from other bears due to territorialism or food scarcity.

Bear ۱۳۲ and her three spring cubs advanced to the semifinals, but lost out to Bear ۹۱۰.

She has become one of the largest and most experienced mother bears at Brooks River, according to her contestant profile. In mid-July, one of her cubs became separated from the family for several days, wandering the river corridor alone. The cub was reunited with the family a few days later.