SOUTHERN ALASKA — “I was not expecting the vote to go that way, but Backpack is now basically a storage unit,” said a Coworker Who Shall Not Be Named (because they are unaware that their opinion of Backpack is being quoted).

Fat Bear Week is an awareness-raising event focused on the brown bears of Katmai National Park. Wikipedia helpfully explains that the week promotes conservation, educates people about bears in general and wildlife overall, and “encourage[s] positive human-nature interactions.”

The National Park Service, which oversees the park, says that “[b]ears are able to thrive in Katmai as part of an interconnected ecosystem which includes salmon, a keystone species that are vitally important to a bear’s diet.”

Fat Bear Week lets you vote on the fattest (or best-storied) bear. The candidate-bear list is made lengthy due to the informative and entertaining biographies of each bear. It’s well worth reading and you’ll learn a lot about the brown bears of Alaska, their dietary habits and more.

Also there are photos! 

“Katmai National Park’s brown bears build fat to survive,” adds explore.org, the online home of Fat Bear Week, which closed for the year with Backpack’s victory. “Stored body fat is the fuel that powers their ability to hibernate during winter. In the den, they don’t eat, drink, urinate or defecate. As such, they must work hard to eat a year’s worth of food in about six months to survive winter.”

Lest you have concerns about a weight contest, explore.org points out “Fat bears are successful bears. They exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska, a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet.”

Learn more about Backpack at www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8If_ix5EjQ. 

Meet all the bears at www.explore.org/meet-the-bears.

And here’s the park service on the park itself—because there’s more to Katmai than bears and salmon: www.nps.gov/katm/index.htm.

Also I’m just screenshotting this for posterity, because when I Googled “Fat Bear Week,” this popped up (sorry, dude, I lost your feet).