Winner of 'Fat Bear Week' 2024 Has People Totally Obsessed
Mama Bear Grazer has emerged as the victor of Alaska’s Katmai National Park “Fat Bear Week”, with over seventy thousand votes for the light-colored female bear—nearly double hte amount claimed by the runner-up.
“Fat Bear Week” is run every year by the park officials, and is a promotional opportunity and way to celebrate the wildlife in this Alaska park at the end of every summer. Photos, videos, and even live cams help voters from all around the world tune in to their favorite ursine contestants and vote for their favorite to be metaphorically crowned champion.
Grazer was first brought to Katmai as a cub and she has raised several litters of cubs in the park. She is an avid fisher, and is notable for her blonde coloration and especially light ears. A popular contestant in Fat Bear Week, Grazer is beloved for her protective “mama bear” instincts, and her aggressive ways that make her a dominant force along the park’s waterways.
A Blonde Brown Bear
It’s ironic that the various species of bears are named for their color, because there’s actually a remarkable range in coloration of every species of bear. Brown bears (which are the same kind of bear as “grizzly” bears) can range in color from a dark, black-brown to nearly blonde. Additionally, brown bears are closely related to polar bears, and the two species have even been known to interbreed. Presently, brown bears are found throughout Alaska and northwest Canada.
Black bears, another species of bear found across North America, is more distantly related, but can also range in size and coloration dramatically. Some are as black as ravens, others are more of a light, cinnamon color. The large bears in the American west, even when brown in color, are technically “black bears,” the same as their smaller cousins.
Drama in Fat Bear Week
“Fat Bear Week” was envisioned as a fun celebration of the wild bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska, but as it’s grown in popularity, fans have gotten regular reminders that though these creatures are adorable, they are also very much wild animals.
The contest was designed to mimic sporting events, but of course, the animals are only supposed to be competing for votes, not each other. The point is to celebrate the successful seasons of these bears, who are about to enter therein winter times when food will be scarce and they will rely on their fat tires to survive. However, this year, viewers got a sense Earlier in the “contest” viewers were shocked when one contestant actually fought and killed another one, delaying the release of the sporting style “bracket” that characterizes the promotion. “National parks like Katmai protect not only the wonders of nature, but also the harsh realities,” read the park’s press release about the incident.
And that’s not the only violence to touch the week’s contestants. This year’s winner, bear 128 (also known as Grazer), defeated the runner-up after he was responsible for the death of one of her cubs during a previous season.
Last year, bear 32, also known as Chunk, killed one of Grazer’s cubs during an incident in a waterfall. It is not uncommon for male bears to act aggressively and violently towards cubs in their vicinity, and though Grazer defended them, she was not able to reach them in time to stop Chunk from giving the cub a lethal injury.
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