Backpack wins Alaska’s Fat Bear Week competition

Brown bear 89 Backpack has won Alaska’s annual Fat Bear Week competition after narrowly defeating a female bear known as 910 in the final round.

Backpack received 103,344 votes, compared with 98,253 for 910, in the contest organised by Katmai National Park, according to the US National Park Service.

The National Park Service thanked the 16 bears that “involuntarily participated” in the competition, which is now in its 13th year.

Why Backpack is called Backpack

Backpack’s name comes from his behaviour as a cub, when he would climb onto his mother Holly’s back as she crossed Alaska’s salmon-filled Brooks River.

Holly won Fat Bear Week in 2019. Backpack has been praised by supporters for his size and was described by one fan as a “big fuzzy boy”.

However, 910 also attracted strong support. She raised both her biological cub and an adopted niece, with some voters arguing that she had “really put in the work this year”.

Bears prepare for hibernation

The finalists’ latest weights have not been released. Adult male brown bears can weigh up to 408 kilograms in mid-summer and may gain the equivalent of 25% of their body weight by autumn. The largest males can exceed 540 kilograms.

Females are smaller but can weigh more than 300 kilograms, while cubs are born weighing about half a kilogram.

During hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and can lose one-third of their body weight. Their survival depends on building sufficient fat reserves before entering their dens.

From June to mid-October, the bears consume large amounts of food, including salmon caught with their jaws or paws.

Backpack’s biography says his “quiet toughness” has helped him establish a place among the largest bears at Brooks River.

More than 1.7 million votes from over 100 countries were cast in last year’s competition.