{"id":21315,"date":"2019-10-06T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2019\/10\/06\/its-fat-bear-week-in-alaskas-katmai-national-park-time-to-fill-out-your-bracket\/"},"modified":"2019-10-06T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-06T11:59:00","slug":"its-fat-bear-week-in-alaskas-katmai-national-park-time-to-fill-out-your-bracket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/its-fat-bear-week-in-alaskas-katmai-national-park-time-to-fill-out-your-bracket\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s Fat Bear Week In Alaska’s Katmai National Park \u2014 Time To Fill Out Your Bracket"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Goldman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Bear 747 is a favorite in the Fat Bear Week contest in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.<\/p>\n

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Naomi Boak\/Courtesy of NPS Photos<\/p>\n

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Naomi Boak\/Courtesy of NPS Photos<\/p>\n

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Who doesn’t love big, fat bears? At least from a distance. And who doesn’t love filling out a bracket where winners move on and losers go home?<\/p>\n

Combine the two and you’ve got Fat Bear Week \u2014 a kind of Ursine March Madness, in October.<\/p>\n

There are an estimated 2,000 bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve<\/a>, a glorious and massive 4 million-acre stretch of wilderness in Southwest Alaska. Each year, the bears spend the summer trying to get as fat as they can to prepare for hibernation.<\/p>\n

And in October, bear fans get to vote on who is the fattest of them all.<\/p>\n

This year, the bears were whittled down to a bracket of 12 contenders. Four heavyweights had first-round byes. Voters on the park’s Facebook page<\/a> choose their favorite from each matchup. The winner moves on to the next round.<\/p>\n

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\n It’s an Ursine March Madness \u2014fans get to pick their favorite fat bear. Katmai National Park says Fat Bear Week increases public awareness of bears and the need for conservation.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of NPS Photos<\/p>\n

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As the competition began this week, Katmai Conservancy media ranger Naomi Boak had her eye on two of what she calls “favorites.” No. 435. … they assign a number after monitoring the bears for a while … and No. 747. He is “as big as a jumbo jet,” she says.<\/p>\n