A battle to reclaim the river’s throne

In the deep Alaskan wilderness, an imposing brown bear has regained his lost throne.

Bear 856 — well known on the explore.org live streaming webcams — had been the dominant bear along Katmai National Park’s Brooks River for at least six years. 

But last summer, Bear 856 appeared skinny and enfeebled. Another large male, Bear 32 — nicknamed “Chunk” by the rangers — exploited 856’s condition and took control of the bear’s dynamic river hierarchy. Rangers watched from elevated bear-viewing platforms as an emboldened Chunk pushed other bears around and claimed the river’s best fishing spots. 

Yet, over the last three and a half months, Bear 856 has reestablished his dominance, even over the likes of formidable Bear 32 and the tank-like Bear 747. At times, 856 has tackled other large bears that have attempted to challenge him, but he hasn’t ceded any ground. Now, the bears are fattening up for their long winter hibernation, and it appears 856 will end the season as the river’s king, once again.

“856 remains unchallenged,” Mike Fitz, a seasoned brown bear naturalist and former Katmai National Park ranger, said over email. “Chunk is back and he’s quite fat, but he’s not the most dominant bear using the river.” 

An enfeebled Bear 856 along the banks of the Katmai National Park Brooks River in 2017.

“856 continues to express his dominance like he did earlier in the summer,” added Fitz, who has returned to the Brooks River to report on the bear cam for explore.org. “He directly approaches other bears and uses his size to intimidate the competitors into yielding or avoiding him.”

The salmon in the river have been exceptionally plentiful this year, so these brown bears are quite fat, which should serve them well over the long winter famine (While hibernating, the bears lower their metabolisms and burn through their fat stores). Generally, this means the well-fed bears have less reason to compete for resources, skirmish, and chase each other from the river. 

Even so, Bear 856 has been inspired to repeatedly show his dominance.

“856 remains unchallenged”

“The bears at Brooks Falls are currently demonstrating a relatively high tolerance for each other, indicative of how well fed they are, but 856 is still willing to throw his weight around,” said Fitz. “He’s sure to remind bears like Chunk that he’s more dominant.”

In the bear world, the general rule is bigger means more dominant. But bears that are considerably fatter than 856 haven’t been able to compete with the aggressive 856, who fishes where he wants, and does what he wants. He’s a potent combination of aggression, size, and perhaps, will. 

“Even 747, who is titanic (seriously, wait until you see his Fat Bear Week photo) still yields to 856,” noted Fitz.

Each year, Katmai National Park holds a “Fat Bear Week” competition in the fall, before the profoundly rotund bears somehow migrate up into the hills and dig their winter dens. The public votes on which bears have grown the fattest from their somewhat scrawny early summer forms. This year’s challenge begins on Oct. 3, and Mashable will be following along and providing updates.

The event, while having a light-hearted name and tone, is a particularly good way to recognize that in the deep, largely untrammeled Alaskan wilds, there are places where the raw, unfiltered wilderness continues apace — a land where bears still dominate the land — but still bow down to the baddest of them all.