Maybe it was beginner’s luck or family genes, but Fat Bear Week has a new champion: 89 Backpack.
Maybe it was beginner’s luck or family genes, but Fat Bear Week has a new champion: 89 Backpack.
The competition rookie and son of 2019 champ, Holly, received more than 100,000 votes and is estimated to weigh between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds.
The annual contest is run by Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, which says brown bears are among its most recognizable residents. Backpack has been a beloved part of the park for about 20 years. He got his nickname when he was just a cub, for the way he climbed onto his mother’s back as they swam through the Brooks River.
BROOKS FALLS, ALASKA - AUGUST 11: Brown bears fish for sockeye salmon on August 11, 2023 at Brooks Falls, Alaska within the Katmai National Park and Preserve. The bears feast in large numbers at the falls between July and September, as millions of salmon swim upstream to spawn. Many of the same bears return to the falls annually, gorging on salmon to fatten up before hibernating for winter. The bears have become something of an internet sensation, as "bearcams" livestream bear activity at and around the falls to viewers worldwide. Commercial salmon fishing in Alaskan waters has often pitted business interests against wildlife conservationists in Alaska, which has more national park and wilderness land than anywhere in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)Park officials describe Backpack as a gentle giant who tends to use “quiet strength,” rather than fighting other bears to get to prime fishing spots.
Alongside the fun, the competition also highlights a key message: Fat bears are successful bears. Before hibernation, the park’s brown bears spend months eating salmon and building up the fat reserves they need to survive the winter.
BROOKS FALLS, ALASKA - AUGUST 11: A brown bear snags a sockeye salmon in mid-air on August 11, 2023 at Brooks Falls, Alaska within the Katmai National Park and Preserve. The bears feast in large numbers at the falls between July and September, as millions of salmon swim upstream to spawn. Many of the same bears return to the falls annually, gorging on salmon to fatten up before hibernating for winter. The bears have become something of an internet sensation, as "bearcams" livestream bear activity at and around the falls to viewers worldwide. Commercial salmon fishing in Alaskan waters has often pitted business interests against wildlife conservationists in Alaska, which has more national park and wilderness land than anywhere in the United States. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)This year’s tournament featured 16 bears, with more than 2 million votes cast online.
