What's Fat Bear Week?

Fat Bear Week is a yearly event at Katmai National Park in Alaska. Katmai has unusually rich conditions for salmon breeding, so every fall, bears from all over Alaska and the Canadian northwest flock there for their fill of all-you-can-eat salmon before their winter hibernation.

Every year, the park publishes a bracket featuring the bears they feel have packed on the most pounds among the park's tubby guests. On their website, people vote round by round on which bear has become the most roly-poly chunkster of the year.

Basically, it's like March Madness, but instead of basketball, it's about which bear has eaten the most salmon! (Yum, I assume!)

Want to go down a rabbit hole?

• The 2022 Fat Bear Week voting scandal, courtesy of The Guardian — yes, someone tried to rig it.
• A history of Fat Bear Week from Mental Floss, including interviews with Mike Fitz, the former park ranger who created it.