When you hear people talking about Fat Bear Week, youāre probably picturing large hairy men wearing very little clothing. But it turns out the event has nothing to do with gay bears and everything thing to do with the animal itself.
For more than a decade now, the Katmai National Park and Preserve has been putting on a novel competition to determine which bear has gotten the chubbiest while prepping for hibernation by gorging on salmon.
Katmai, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the National Park Service join forces for one week per year to bring awareness to the national park system and its delicate ecology by publicizing the week-long competition where fans can vote for their favorite fat bear on social media until one giant bear reigns supreme.
Thin is in again in America, but not during Fat Bear Week. Itās refreshing to watch people cheer for desire and gluttony in a society that uses body fat percentage and deprivation as the metric by which to judge your worth in society.
Throughout the week, viewers can get to know the bears by watching Explore.org's live bear cams, reading each bearās biography, downloading a March Madness-style bracket, and then voting during each round of the competition for whichever brown bear you think ābest exemplifies fatness and success.ā Fat Bear Week voters are also encouraged to campaign for their favorite on social media until eventually one rotund bear is crowned the champion.
The inherently silly competition is made more hilarious by the government agencies creating memes and making jokes on social media throughout the celebratory week. Keep scrolling to see the funniest posts ā and don't forget to vote for your favorite fat bear.
