IT’S FAT BEAR WEEK
Quite possibly my favorite week of the entire year. And, if you are unaware of what Fat Bear Week is, allow me to introduce you.
Every spring over 2,000 brown bears emerge from hibernation from a long Alaskan winter in Katmai National Park. They’re thin, scrawny, a fraction of what they weighed just months before. And though they spent the last several months in a deep sleep, their bodies still burned an average of 4,000 calories a day, maintaining their muscle mass while eating up their reserves.
But spring comes, and they emerge.
Katmai is known for Brooks Falls – the salmon run. A hungry bear’s wet dream. A Sockeye Salmon’s personal hell. And, come fall, those haggard brown bears have gained hundreds of pounds through the nutrient dense salmon. Ready to go back into hibernation and start the cycle again.
Thus, every fall, Katmai National Park hosts a bracket competition where visitors of the Park and internet fans alike can vote on which bears fattened up the best. Which ones survived the most. Which one deserves to be crowned that year’s ultimate fat bear.
Last year, for example, was bear 32, also known (fondly) as Chunk. Chunk went into hibernation a large being, and emerged in the spring of 2025 with a broken jaw. While no one saw the incident, it is likely he broke his jaw in a territorial fight with another bear. I’d hate to see the other guy. But, because of this, he had to figure out how to adapt. How to ensure he ate the necessary number of fish. How to nurse his jaw. How to avoid confrontation – which, as a bear as large as him, is not easy. He became a target due to his jaw. But, somehow, he prevailed.
Chunk’s story is one of nature’s most beautiful, in my opinion. It marks true adaptability and survival instincts. It shows perseverance in the face of actual peril. And, thus, Chunk was crowned 2025’s Fat Bear Champion, at an estimated 1,200 pounds (see below for his glorious transformation).
Chunk is, of course, in the running this year as a potential repeat winner, but his story is not as dramatic. His injury is not new, so his progress is not as impressive (although, he is still a massive bear). In fact, Chunk spent most of the summer hidden away, only making some appearances on the river. Whatever he may have been doing out of the limelight, he certainly remained well fed.
Chunk is not the only bear with a story.
This year, for example, bear 132 emerged with her third litter of cubs. In July, one of her cubs went missing. She was able to continue to nurture her other two, eat enough for her, and track down the cub before he was harmed by other bears. She and her cub reunited, and the family of four won out over bear 806 and her cubs on round one of the voting just yesterday.
Similarly, bear 909 emerged with two cubs in the spring, but has tragically lost both as she now preps for solo hibernation. Bear 903, also known as Gully, adapted over his early subadult years to hunger by catching seagulls out of the sky rather than fight for dominance in the river. Bear 89, or Backpack (as a cub he climbed on his mother’s back while she swam across rivers and wandered through the forest), has emerged as a rather passive but extremely large young adult male.
Anyway. It’s Fat Bear Week. While Katmai National Park always has “bear cams” live on their site, they receive the most attention during this week every September. So I would encourage anyone to check it out. You may learn a thing or two, you may witness something funny, or maybe you’ll just have a relaxing tab open in the background for when you need a second to rest your brain. And, while this week’s post is entirely un-law related, it absolutely checks out with things I would write about, as a staunch animal lover.
Song of the day: The Bare Necessities – Phil Harris
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