Fat Bear Week Is an Alaskan Tradition that Monitors Bears as they Prepare for Hibernation

by Juan Esteban Palma, age 14

Fat Bear Week is an annual contest located in Alaska. Big brown bears prepare for hibernation by gaining fat to survive the winter. This year's winner of the annual contest is Chunk.

Chunk is a brown bear who weighs 1,200 pounds. This is a very big difference from the other bears, weighing between 600 and 1000 pounds. This fat gain depends on their success in finding food. They call this the “feeding frenzy” because during the hot days of summer, bears go to rivers full of salmon, eating a lot to gain as much fat as possible. This is because when October comes and it starts getting cold, they can sleep for five to eight months with a scarce food supply, surviving only on the fat they stored during the summer. Here is where it gets tricky: if bears don't find enough food during summer and don't store enough fat, it leads to difficulties during hibernation, or even death.

As temperatures begin to drop, the bear’s core body temperature can decrease by ten degrees. Additionally, big brown bears also adapt by breathing only once or twice a minute and making their hearts beat 12 times a minute. All these tactics help conserve energy and reduce their fat and energy intake. During their hibernation, bears will not eat, drink or even use use the bathroom. They purely survive off the fat they accumulated during the season and reducing their energy expenditure drastically.

During the season, rangers monitor the bears with cameras around the park and educate visitors about the important Katmai National Park and Preserve ecosystem that protects these creatures. During warmer months in summer and fall, thousands of people pay a visit to watch the bears catch fish and celebrate the success of the park’s ecosystem. Fat Bear week serves as a celebration of the success of these bears and the health of the ecosystem that allows these bears to continue to survive during cold months.

[Sources: Explore.org; CBS News; National Geographic]