Friends, enemies, comrades, it is that time of year again. No, not time for pumpkin spice lattes or frantic Halloween planning, but time for the greatest contest of our age! That’s right, Penns Valley, it is Fat Bear Week. Hosted by Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve and Katmai Conservancy, Fat Bear Week is a contest of champions between the national park’s notable bear population to see who can get the chunkiest before winter.

Eating is of massive importance to bears. They hibernate through most of the winter season, so they need a large store of fat to survive off of while they can’t hunt or forage. Thus, bears spend the leading weeks of winter eating massive amounts of salmon as the fish swim upriver to breed. Fat Bear Week celebrates this, and is intended to raise awareness of Katmai’s bears and the efforts to conserve their natural habitat. The essence of the competition is a community vote. Each day, there will be a match-up of bears from a bracket, and the public has to decide which bears have been getting the fattest and will be the most successful in winter. During the event, you can also view live cameras hosted by explore.org that show the bears in action. You will not be disappointed!

And so, it is time for a call to action. Students and faculty of Penns Valley, go out and vote for your favorite bear. May the fattest win!

https://explore.org/fat-bear-week