Bear 910 in beach-ready form – NPS photo by Corey Cravata
NPS photo by Corey Cravata
News release date: September 23, 2024
Contact: Matt Johnson, 907.469.1131
KING SALMON, Alaska — Weigh in and vote for your favorite as Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai National Park and Preserve October 2-8, 2024. Choose the bear you think has what it takes to survive. Winter and the champion crowning experience on October 8 on Fatbearweek.org.
“Fat Bear Week satisfies your hunger for bears, salmon and other Katmai wonders, all in one bite,” said Mark Sturm, park superintendent.
Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that celebrates the healthy appetite of brown bears as well as the nutritious ecosystem in which the bears thrive. Bears feast on a feast of wild Alaskan salmon in one of the greatest remaining salmon runs on Earth, made possible by the pristine waters sourced from Katmai National Park and Preserve.
All votes are cast at Fatbearweek.org for a March Madness-style bracket contest in which the Bears compete daily in head-to-head duels for the title of 2024 Fat Bear Week Champion. It all begins with the Fat Bear Junior vote, which will take place on September 26-27, 2024 (Read more Sagittarius unveiled on September 24). Voting for Fat Bear Week will take place from October 2-8, 2024 (the collection was revealed on September 30). Champion Fat Bear will be crowned on October 8, 2024.
This is the 10th anniversary of Fat Bear Week, which began in 2014 as a way to celebrate Katmai’s magnificent bears and the ecosystem that allows them to thrive. Nearly 1.4 million votes were cast for the Bears last year from more than a hundred countries. Check out the live cameras on Explore.org or visit the park to learn more about the lives of these bears. Fat Bear Week is brought to you by a partnership between the National Park Service, Explore.org and Katmai Conservancy. For more information about Katmai visit us at www.nps.gov/katm and follow us on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, twitterOr Instagram.
—NPS—
