Meet 409 Beadnose, Katmai National Park’s Fattest Brown Bear

KATMAI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska (CBS4) – We have a winner, or rather, the Katmai National Park and Reserve does. They say 409 Beadnose won their annual Fat Bear Week contest.

They pit 12 of their chubbiest brown bears against each other for the week-long competition. Each day the bear with more likes in their March Madness-style matchup moves onto the next day.

The competition is all in good fun, and is used to educate the public about the process for bears to pack on as much weight as possible before hibernation.

“Bears must eat one year’s worth of food in six short months to survive hibernation, and 409 has excelled at that. Her radiant rolls were deemed by the voting public to be this year’s most fabulous flab,” the park said on their Facebook page.

You can try to spot 409 on the park’s bear cameras.