Chonky and they know it: Voting starts in Fat Bear Week
Explaining the draw of gawking at massive bears, a park ranger says, "You can follow the bears for years and really get to know their lives and their personalities and their soap operas."
Voting is now officially open in the 2023 Fat Bear Week competition, celebrating the ability of brown bears to pack on weight for their hibernation cycle in Alaska. To do that, they must gobble tons of fish — and luckily, they live near a thriving sockeye salmon run.
"Essentially those fat stores have to keep them healthy from late October till June," when the salmon return to the Brooks River, media ranger Naomi, told NPR.
