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Katmai National Park in Alaska released the bracket for this year’s Fat Bear Week, an annual competition to find the public’s favorite big-bellied bruin.
The park released the bracket Monday evening and voting on the first match-ups begins on Wednesday.
“The astonishing salmon runs in Katmai are essential to the survival of the park’s ecosystem and brown bears,” Katmai Park Superintendent Mark Sturm said in a news release. “Fat Bear Week enables people from around the work to actively engage in learning about bears while cheering for their favorite competitor.”
This year’s bracket includes 128 Grazer, a female bear who claimed her first Fat Bear Week title in 2023 and became the first pregnant bear to win the competition in 2024.
Other bears in the bracket include fan-favorite 32 Chunk, who recovered from a broken jaw during the summer; Bear 609, who was the 2022 Fat Bear Junior champion; and 128 Junior, Grazer’s cub, who was crowed this year’s Fat Bear Junior champion.
