KING SALMON, Alaska – Something chonky this way comes as Tuesday begins the annual Fat Bear Week, a competition to see which bears in Katmai National Park have packed on the most pounds ahead of their winter hibernation.

Located in southern Alaska , the park is home to one of the largest populations of brown bears on the planet, along with the healthiest run of their favored entrée, wild sockeye salmon, according to the National Park Service .

This abundance produces some rather burly bears – a burliness celebrated each year during Fat Bear Week 2025.

The competition, which is an online March Madness -style bracket, runs from Sept. 23-30 this year and pits nearly a dozen bears at Katmai’s Brooks River against one another.

The NPS provided mini-biographies about each of the animals , wh

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