The bracket for the 2024 Fat Bear Week contest was revealed on Tuesday night, following a delay caused by a deadly bear encounter at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve on Monday.
Public voting for this year’s Fat Bear contest, which celebrated its 10th anniversary, will commence at noon ET on Wednesday. This annual event, a favorite among fans, highlights the reality of nature’s harsh conditions in the southern Alaskan wilderness.
Participants can vote for their favorite bears online until October 8, with the winner announced that evening. The first pairing features Bear 519, a young female known for her distinctive “grizzled brown fur, tall upright ears, and lanky legs,” facing off against 909 Junior, a nearly four-year-old female with wide-set ears.
Katmai’s website revealed that the 2023 contest attracted nearly 1.4 million votes from over 100 countries, with the title won by a protective mother bear, 128 Grazer.
The contest format mimics March Madness, employing a single-elimination structure where bears compete daily in head-to-head matchups. The bear that garners the most online votes moves to the next round, allowing fans to engage in the excitement.
In preparation for the main contest, a preliminary event for Fat Bear Junior occurred, with Bear 909 Jr. emerging as the winner.
The bear attack that prompted the delay involved Bear No. 469, a male, who fatally attacked Bear No. 402, a similarly sized female, at the Brooks River on September 30. This incident required park and contest officials to reassess before announcing the bracket.
Live stream footage showed the attack, and experts noted it was an unusual event. Video commentary indicated that Bear No. 402 was attempting to escape but was ultimately unable to avoid drowning. Mike Fitz, a naturalist with Explore.org, expressed the shock and sadness felt by the community: “We love the bears, but again it’s a clear reminder of how big and strong and powerful these animals actually are.”
Additionally, issues of human-bear interactions have been reported recently along the Brooks River. From September 18 to 29, Katmai staff observed multiple incidents where bears received fish from anglers. As a result, the Brooks River corridor is now closed to all fishing, aside from subsistence users below Brooks Falls, until October 31, unless lifted sooner by the park superintendent. Authorities warn that bears learning to associate people with food can lead to dangerous situations for both bears and humans.