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Which brown bear will win Fat Bear Week?

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October 12, 2022 / 6:18 AM
/ CBS/AFP

A hugely popular web poll to find the fattest bear in an Alaskan national park has become the target of rampant ballot stuffing, according to organizers, but in the end a champion has been crowned.
With the country's political class obsessing over election integrity, the annual Fat Bear Week poll seemed like the perfect example of a free and fair ballot.
But even this model of democratic probity appeared to have been sullied after a spam campaign to elevate Bear 435 over Bear 747, in a crucial semifinal head-to-head to determine which creature had piled on the most pounds.
"Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed," tweeted Katmai National Park Service, which organizes the annual tongue-in-cheek vote.
"It appears someone has decided to spam the Fat Bear Week poll, but fortunately it is easy for us to tell which votes are fraudulent," the park tweeted.
After a recount, Bear 747 -- whose enormous mass and moniker have led to comparisons with Boeing's jumbo plane -- was named winner. He faced off against Bear 901 in Tuesday's grand finale - and was declared the decisive winner.
THIS 747 IS CLEARED FOR LANDING. Introducing your 2022 👑 Fat Bear Week champion. pic.twitter.com/gVCzhYeX5n
According to organizers, 747 won the championship round by a vote of 68,105 to 56,876.
The week-long contest features match-ups between bears, with users voting for ones they believe look fattest after months of gorging on up to 100 pounds of salmon a day.
The layer of chubbiness is vital to help the bears through their hibernation during the cold of an Alaskan winter.
During five months of deep sleep, they do not wake to eat, drink or even go to the toilet, emerging famished -- and a lot thinner -- in the spring.
While the bears who are the subject of the voting are immune to the fat-shaming that plagues life for those in the public eye, the contest itself has become something of a behemoth.
It began in 2014 as a small-scale effort to raise awareness of the bears and the environmental challenges they face, but by last year had grown to a gargantuan event, with more than 800,000 ballots cast.
According to Katmai National Park , the bears' survival depends on eating a year's worth of food in six months.
Former Katmai National Park ranger Andrew LaValle told CBS News in 2018 that "a fat bear is a healthy bear, and it's something to celebrate."

First published on October 12, 2022 / 6:18 AM

© 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.

Copyright ©2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

The fattest of fat bears! Fat Bear Week crowns its champ of chonk after voting scandal
Every year, the internet votes on their favorite fat bear from Katmai National Park in Alaska. The bears are preparing for their winter hibernation.

Fat Bear Week contest winner crowned at Alaska's Katmai National Park.
It's the second victory for the bear nicknamed 747 - like the jumbo jet.

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©2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A champion of chonk is crowned: 747 wins 2022 Fat Bear Week, second title in three years
A champion of chonk is crowned: 747 wins 2022 Fat Bear Week, second title in three years
Fat Bear Week winner crowned at Katmai National Park
Every year, the internet votes on their favorite fat bear from Katmai National Park in Alaska. The bears are preparing for their winter hibernation.
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The 2022 edition of Fat Bear Week was unlike any other, and even with a voting scandal that rocked southwest Alaska , 747 was crowned this year's champion of chonk – the bear's second title in three years.
The weeklong celebration of bears bulking up on salmon at the Katmai National Park and Preserve as hibernation and winter near had fans across the world voting on which bear they thought was the true "titan of tonnage." And 747, "the lard-layered Leviathan with powerful presence and scars," beat out newcomer the "Bunyanesque behemoth," 901, in the finals.
"The votes are in – you’ve decided to upgrade to fish class & fly w/ 747!" the park announced on Twitter.
More than 793,000 votes were cast in last year's edition, then a new record for Fat Bear Week. Lian Law, visual information specialist at the park and lead for Fat Bear Week, told USA TODAY in September that the goal was to reach 1 million votes. Initial results from 2022 voting showed the contest garnered more than 900,000 votes.
And 747 is the largest bear known to use the Brooks River to stock up on salmon, potentially weighing as much as 1,400 pounds, according to the park . A "skilled and efficient angler," 747 has sat at the top of the bear hierarchy in the park since last summer, and got there not because of aggression, but rather just his size.
"Most bears recognize they cannot compete with him physically and they yield space upon his approach. He shows that skill and size influence success in the bear world," the park said. "When he was present in late August and September, 747 was again the river’s most dominant bear."
And 747 captured the title over contestant 901, who was competing in her first Fat Bear Week. The runner-up is known to defend her fishing spots from other bears, despite being only 6 years old. She's independent, assertive and occasionally mischievous, but doesn't like to "play fight" like other bears her age.
While 747 won his second crown after winning it for the first time in 2020, it didn't come without controversy. It appeared the bear was going to lose his semifinal matchup after 2019 champion 435 Holly had late surge in votes, but the Katmai National Park & Preserve announced Sunday that someone had spammed the poll with fraudulent votes for Holly.
Mike Fitz, a naturalist from one of the contest organizers, Explore.org, told USA TODAY the fake votes totaled "several thousand." The national park said it was able to discard the spammed votes, resulting in 747 reaching the final en route to his victory.
Don't expect there to be some sort of championship parade or a trophy full of salmon for 747. The bear likely has zero idea of his win and celebrity status, and won't get anything for being the champion.
The winner is one of an estimated 2,200 brown bears that occupy the 4-million acre national park. The brown bears gain so much weight because when they hibernate, they can lose one-third of their weight since they aren't eating or drinking, relying on their fat reserves to keep them going throughout the winter.
See how the 2022 champion has transformed through the years.
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jordan_mendoza5 .
Contributing: Camille Fine, USA TODAY

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