Katmai National Park in Alaska, is home to some of Earth’s largest brown bears.
Adult male bears average 700 – 900 pounds (317 – 408 kg) in mid-summer. By late summer and fall, the largest males often weigh more than 1,200 pounds (544 kg). Adult female bears average smaller than adult males by one-third to one-half, largely due to the energetic costs of raising cubs.
Every year they hold a competition, called Fat Bear Week. The idea is to vote for your favourite pudgy bear.
Over the course of the summer, the bears eat as much as they can get their paws on so that when they go into Hibernation. They have enough stored to survive.
Bears eat plants and berries as well as Salmon from Brooks River.
The rangers at the park have photographed the bears when they came out of hybernation in the spring, and then again now so you can see the pounds they’ve packed on. And so they invite you to vote for your favourirte! It’s cute, it’s fun and it’s also interesting and educational.
If you’d like to learn more about the bears and vote, visit www.explore.org
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