“Fat bears are successful bears,” the website states. “They exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska, a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people.”
Rather than objectively tallying pre-winter weights, voters are instead encouraged to consider a range of factors in their considerations, such as challenges the bears overcame and their personal likability.
Voting opened Tuesday and will close Sep. 30. Each day, bears face off in head-to-head matchups through the successive rounds.
Brown bears enter hibernation in the winter, lying in their dens and not eating or drinking for several months, according to the National Park Service. They lose about one third of their body weight before emerging in the spring.
Of several bears vying for the leading spot, 128 Grazer is a leading contender, having won the competition two years running.
A mother of three litters of cubs, Grazer is described as a “forceful presence” at Brooks Falls, where bears vie for salmon-eating rights.
“Her fearsome nature is respected by other bears who often choose to give her space instead of risking a confrontation,” the competition website reads.
Grazer’s cub, 128 Jr., won this year’s junior competition.
Another return contestant is 32 Chunk, one of the park’s largest bears who lost the competition in a nail-biter last year to Grazer.
Currently nursing a broken jaw likely sustained in a fight with another bear, Chunk has continued to eat without full use of his mandible and maintains his dominant status at several prime salmon spots, the website states.
“Resilience in the wake of pain and conflict is written on Chunk’s face,” the website reads.
For voters looking for a sleeper pick, bear 602, a newcomer to the competition, might be that choice due to his unique behaviors.
602 is a large, dominant male known for napping in the river while salmon leap around him, according to the website.
Beloved by viewers of the many webcams around the park, he routinely performs a “peculiar stomping dance” when excited, the website says.
Home to roughly 2,200 brown bears, Katmai National Park is 6,562 square miles, according to the website.
Truman Dickerson can be reached at truman.dickerson@globe.com.
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