As the saying goes, nothing gold can stay. After an exciting week of voting, bear pictures, and unprecedented scandal, Fat Bear Week 2022 has ended. From Oct. 5-11, bear enthusiasts across social media cast their votes for the burliest bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve. While the competition offered its usual lighthearted fun, it also faced a surprising case of ballot stuffing. Here’s the lowdown on all the major details.
“Like bears stuff their face with fish, our ballot box, too, has been stuffed,” Katmai National Park tweeted on Oct. 9. In a follow-up tweet, the park added, “It appears someone has decided to spam the Fat Bear Week poll, but fortunately it is easy for us to tell which votes are fraudulent.”
The Fat Bear Week 2022 winner
After weeding out the spam votes, Katmai National Park announced the day’s totals — 37,940 votes for bear 747 and 30,430 for bear 435. On the 10th, the second semi-final decided which bear would face off against 747 in the final round. With 44,237 votes, bear 901 beat out bear 128 Grazer. With the last semi-final settled, only one match-up remained. On Oct. 11, bear 747 faced off against bear 901. The result? A decisive win for 747. Though 901 earned 56,876 votes, 747 came out on top with 68,105 votes. The win marks 747’s second championship title, following a first win in 2020.
“The votes are in- you’ve decided to upgrade to fish class & fly w/ 747!” the Katmai National Park tweeted on Oct. 11. “747 was deemed an order of magnitude more massive than 901, who experienced troubling tummy turbulence enroute.” Still, the park wrote, “901 made a strong start in her 1st #FatBearWeek appearance. Expect big things in the future!”
Relive the thrills of this year’s competition by checking out the bracket details here. You can also watch this fascinating Fat Bear Week recap video featuring commentary from Katmai National Park rangers and naturalist Mike Fitz.
Images courtesy of Katmai National Park and Preserve