WASHINGTON — Fat bear fall is almost here.
Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska has announced the 2023 dates for its yearly tradition of Fat Bear Week, in which hundreds of thousands of online fans vote for their favorite bulked-up bears.
The contenders for the title of "Fat Bear Week 2023 Champion" have spent the summer on Brooks Rivers fattening up to survive winter hibernation. Exactly who will be competing this year remains a secret, so you'll need to bear with us as we all wait for the contestants to be revealed on Monday, Oct. 2.
According to the National Park Service, Fat Bear Week highlights the accomplishments of these burly bruins and shines a spotlight on the healthy ecosystem in which they can thrive. Last year, more than one million votes were cast from all over the world.
When is Fat Bear Week?
Voting in this year's competition takes place from Oct. 4 - 10.
Last year, Bear 747 flew past his competition early on and was crowned the fattest of them all for the second time. The chubby champ nearly suffered a shocking loss early on in the 2022 tournament after a voting scandal emerged.
During one of 747's early matchups, organizers got suspicious when one chunky contender, 435 or "Holly," rebounded from being thousands of votes behind in just hours. They determined the voting polls had been stuffed with spam votes.
The park assured voters that it had reviewed previous matchups and found no fraud. Explore.org also added a captcha to the poll — something the organization said seemed to work to combat fake votes.
This year's chunky competitors will be announced and the bracket will be revealed on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Eastern on Explore.org’s Brooks Live Chat channel.
