The votes are in, and a new fat bear champion has been crowned in Alaska: 89 “Backpack”.
asserted
champion → crown → Alaska
He earned his nickname by climbing on his mother’s back as a young cub 20 years ago, and won fans with his story of recovery after a leg injury in 2007.
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He → earn → 2007
According to his official biography on the Fat Bear Week site, he opts for a “quiet strength” instead of aggression when seeking prime spots for fish.
uncertain
he → accord → fish
“He’s a Lover, Not a Fighter!!” one fan wrote on the nature-cam network Explore.org, which puts on the contest with the Alaskan National Park Service and Katmai Conservancy.
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which → ’ → Service
Backpack defeated 910, a female dubbed “Dancing Queen” by some fans in a contest that included a record 16 contenders, not counting some accompanying cubs.
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that → defeat → cubs
The competition has unfolded every year since its first iteration in 2014 at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, unbeknownst to the portly participants.
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competition → unfold → participants
No polling,” the National Park Service wrote in a Facebook post.
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Service → write → post
“Just bears doing what bears do best: eating, fishing, napping, more eating and getting gloriously chunky.”
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bears → do → eating
The brown bears aren’t feasting on the sockeye salmon in Brooks River just for fun; putting on the pounds is crucial for their survival as they prepare for hibernation later in the northern fall.
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they → feast → fall
“They’re all winners,” Sarah Bruce, a Katmai park ranger, said in an interview earlier on Tuesday (Washington time).
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Bruce → ’re → Tuesday
“They’re all set up to survive winter hibernation.”
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They → set → hibernation
Both 910 and Backpack had winning lineages: her mother was two-time winner 409 “Beadnose”, and his mother was 435 “Holly”, the 2019 victor.
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mother → have → lineages
The legacies are a testament to the bears’ habits, and to the histories that park officials have compiled over years of observation.
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officials → compile → observation
“As we move forward into the future, because the same bears return to the Brooks River every year and female bears raise their young on the Brooks River … we’re going to continue to see the generations kind of cycle through,” Bruce said.
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Bruce → move → River
Interest in the bracket-style tournament this year was so significant that early voting overwhelmed the system and forced an extension of the first round.
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voting → overwhelm → round
Bruce said the number of votes had surpassed last year’s total of 1.7 million, not just because there were more polls this time around.
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number → say → million
“We have more interest,” she said.
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she → have → interest
“That’s been mind-blowing ...
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That → blow → ?
It’s incomprehensible just how many more people are finding it each year and the love that it continues to get.
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it → ’ → that
Even Google got into the spirit, offering a bear animation for the “Fat Bear Week” search that allowed users to click on a salmon to feed a bear and bulk it up.
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users → get → it
On message boards, enthusiasts campaigned for their favourite finalists and highlighted assets such as “serious badonkadonk”, “thunder thighs” and “chonky bearness”.
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enthusiasts → campaign → badonkadonk
According to the National Park Service, adult males can weigh about 270 to 400 kilograms by mid-summer, but balloon to more than 450kg by October and November.
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males → accord → October
Weight estimates for some of this year’s participants ranged from 479kg to 578kg, but the winner isn’t chosen purely on flab.
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winner → range → flab
Fans often consider the bears’ backstories and develop a fondness for individual contestants they can watch on live cameras.
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they → consider → cameras
The competitors are focused on a higher calling.
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competitors → focus → calling
“The bears have no idea this is happening,” Bruce said.
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Bruce → have → idea
“They just want to get fat and survive winter.”
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They → want → winter
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world.
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what → get → world
The Aporia
