Fat Bear Week underway after contestant's death delayed competition

Fat Bear Week in Alaska is underway after the death of a bear delayed the competition.

Participants of the 10th annual Fat Bear Week at Katmai National Park and Preserve were unveiled Tuesday, a day later than expected after a bear named Bear 402 was killed by a bear during a fight Monday.

Fat Bear Week celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the protected area across the Alaska Peninsula – from the southwestern corner of the mainland to the Aleutian Islands – by letting people vote online for their favorite bears.

The bears have been fattening sockeye salmon all summer to prepare for hibernation, and Fat Bear Week organizers introduced this year's 12 participants Tuesday.

Eight bears compete against each other in the first round, the other four automatically advance to the second round. Voting began Wednesday and people were instructed to vote on which bear “best embodies brown bear fatness and success.”

Adult male brown bears weigh an average of 600 to 900 pounds in mid-summer. When they go into hibernation, large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds and females are about a third smaller, having eaten up to 30 fish per day in preparation for winter.

Game number 1

The first game is between Bear 909 Jr., who won the Fat Bear Junior competition for the second time last week, and Bear 519, a young female bear. The winner of the game will face defending champion Grazer, one of the most impressive bears in the park.

Game number 2

In the second fight, Bear 909, Bear 909 Jr.'s mother, faces Bear 903, an 8-year-old male nicknamed Gully after the seagulls he eats. The winner will face Bear 747, a two-time champion named after the figuratively similar-sized aircraft.

Game number 3

Tomorrow, voters have two more polls to take. In the first duel of the day, Bear 856, an older male and one of the most well-known bears in the park due to his large size, competes against newcomer Bear 504, a mother who is raising her second known litter. The winner will face off against perhaps the largest bear in the park, named 32 Chuck, a 20-year-old man estimated to weigh over 1,200 pounds who once ate 42 salmon in just 10 hours.

Game number 4

The final game on Thursday is between Bear 151 and Bear 901. Bear 151 was once a playful young bear named Walker, but is now showing more dominance. Bear 901 is a female bear who returned to the park after her first litter did not survive. The winner of the fight will face Bear 164, nicknamed Bucky Dent because of a dent in his forehead.

Voting runs until Tuesday, October 8th.

Death of the participant

The death of bear 402, captured in the park's bear livestream footage, shows the “harsh realities” of nature, a park official said.

“National parks like Katmai protect not only the wonders of nature, but also harsh realities,” Katmai National Park spokesman Matt Johnson said in a statement. “Every bear seen on the webcams is competing with others for survival.”

According to Katmai National Park ranger Sarah Bruce, it is unclear why the fight began that led to the bear's death.

“We love to celebrate the success of bears with full stomachs and plenty of body fat, but the ferocity of bears is real,” said Mike Fitz, resident naturalist at explore.org, during a live conversation about the death hosted by the nonprofit organization on Monday. “The risks they face are real. Their lives can be hard and their deaths can be painful.”

Explore.org broadcasts the bear cams and helps organize Fat Bear Week.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.