Prepare to Bear a Grizzly Winter
Giant Bears Get Even Bigger
By: Remy Colburn
This week is Fat Bear Week, and students and staff at DT will be celebrating during MAP all week. This annual event has become a staple at DT due to high school English teacher Mrs. Joy Utecht, who has an enduring love of animals, especially fat ones.
“To say I am a big fan of Fat Bear Week is the understatement of the year. I love Fat Bear Week! When else do we celebrate the act of getting morbidly obese as a health benefit?” said Utecht. “I am willing to live vicariously through a bear - though I prefer the river be flowing with cake and cookies.”
Fat Bear Week, which officially runs from September 23-30 between 12 - 9 p.m. Eastern / 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Pacific, celebrates the bears that live in Katmai National Park in Alaska, who are putting on pounds before they settle into their winter hibernation. The park’s bear residents are entered into a competition where people can vote on their favorite fat bear at explore.org. The bear with the most votes is celebrated as the fattest bear.
While this event is a fun way for people to celebrate the bear’s ability to successfully prepare for the harsh winter ahead, the event was officially designed to promote bear conservation, cultivate an interest in wildlife, and encourage positive human-nature interactions.
“What I like most about the competition is following all of the Katmai National Park and Explore.org websites showing the bears gorging themselves on salmon at Brooks River's Falls. Throughout the month of September, the river is so full of salmon that it appears red,” said Utecht.
Fans of the event are able to follow the bears from year to year; they’re able to see their bears as cubs in the Fat Bear Junior contest, and then watch them grow and have cubs of their own.
Utecht says, “The bears have names and followers, and I always vote for the females if I can because they have to stuff themselves AND their adorable cubs.”
This year is likely going to be a toss-up between 32 Chunk and 128 Grazer. 128 Grazer, already a back-to-back champion, is the only female to have reached that goal. With 128 Glazer already established as a fan-favorite, 32 Chunk will have to get big if he plans to tackle first place.
Log in to https://explore.org/fat-bear-week to see all the bears and to cast your vote before it’s too late.
