comparison between a skinny bear in July and a heavy bear in September
NPS/The Mega Agency/Newscom

The Fattest Bear in Alaska

Behind the scenes of nature’s most adorable eating competition

By Talia Cowen
From the March/April Issue

The votes had been counted. A winner had been chosen. It was official: Holly was the fattest bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

More than 187,000 people voted last October in the park’s annual Fat Bear Week contest. Voters decided which brown bear had gained the most weight over the summer and fall. Holly beat out 11 other bears to become the chubby champion of 2019.

In the weeks before the contest, bears like Holly caught slippery fish in their powerful paws and chomped down with their mighty jaws. The bears each gobbled up about 30 salmon every day, which caused the bears to blow up like furry balloons.

Why do they do this? Packing on pounds before winter helps bears survive.

A Long Winter Snooze

When the cold Alaskan winter hits, the bears’ food supplies disappear. The streams where tasty salmon swim freeze. So do the berries that bears snack on.

To survive this harsh winter, the bears go into hibernation. That’s a kind of deep sleep that keeps them alive when food is hard to find. Many other animals hibernate during the winter, including bats and hedgehogs.

Snuggled up in their dens, the bears will not eat, drink, pee, or poop for months. While these plump bears snooze, their bodies use their extra fat to stay healthy and warm during winter.

Now that it’s spring, Holly soon will be crawling out of her den. She’ll no longer be a hulking ball of fur. She will have burned up much of her fat while she slept. She’ll be a bony bear with a big appetite. It’ll be time for her to start bulking up again for another winter—and defend her title as the fattest bear in Katmai. 

Can't Miss Teaching Extras
From the Super Science Archives

This 4-minute video from Scholastic’s classroom magazine “Super Science” provides a great explanation of the different types of hibernation and why certain animals take their winter slumbers.

Watch This

For coverage of last year’s fattest bear context, and to hear from a park ranger in Katmai National Park and Preserve, watch this 3-minute CBS This Morning clip

Check This Out

Check out Holly and her competition in this slideshow from Katmai National Park’s 2019 Fat Bear Week. Your students will be charmed by these amazing photographs of the brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve as they attempt to eat as much as they possibly can before winter.

Read These Fun Facts

Learn more about hibernation with National Geographic Kids’ 10 Fascinating Facts About Hibernation.

Connect This Story to a Poem

What does Holly the bear’s emergence from hibernation have in common with this issue’s poem, “Make up your mind, March!”? They both herald the arrival of spring. Ask your students to share the signs of spring they find within each text--and in the world around them.  

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