“Think of Fat Bear Week as a March Madness meets Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.” That’s the way one article describes the annual habits of 12 brown bears in southwest Alaska’s remote Katmai National Park and Preserve who will spend the next week gorging on about 40 salmon a day as they prepare for their winter hibernation. You can watch their feasting in a live cam from Explore.org and there is even an entire competition bracket with matches between bears to see who can eat the most fish and become the “fattest bear.”
It’s a fun way to bring nature to life, spread more empathy for the future of these animals and provides a great learning aid for teachers. Based on the name alone, my money’s on Electra.
