Meet the fattest bears of 2018’s Fat Bear Week

Welcome to Fat Bear Week at Mashable! Each fall, Katmai National Park holds a competition as Alaska’s brown bears finish fattening up for their long winter hibernation. This year, Mashable is getting in on the salmon-munching action. Check back with us all week as we follow the fat bear face-offs each day, and remember to get your votes in for each round. Happy fishing!

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By the fall of each year, the brown bears of Katmai National Park grow exceptionally fat. The largest males, in fact, can tip the scales at more than 1,000 pounds.

This year, 13 plump omnivores have made it into the official Fat Bear Week contest, after park rangers selected the bulkiest contenders. 

Over the next month, the bears will begin hibernating, slowly burn through their ample fat stores while slumbering through the harsh Alaskan winter. 

Before their hibernation can begin, however, we — their adoring public — must pick our champion: the fattest fat bear of them all.

The 2018 Fat Bear Week Bracket

Katmai has released its bracket of fattest bears, and voting begins on Wednesday. But first, it’s time to get to know the bears of 2018’s competition.

The bracket is populated with some globally popular characters — such as Holly, Otis, and 747 — bears who have earned their fame while fishing on the explore.org live webcams.

Typically, there are 12 bears for the 12 playoff spots. But 2018 isn’t your average fat bear bracket. 

The twelfth spot is shared by two sibling cubs who just spent their second year in the wild, munching salmon along Katmai National Park’s Brooks River.

To help you cast informed votes, each day both Mashable and Katmai National Park will post “dueling” comparison images of each bear — from their early summer state to their present, rotund forms — so you can judge just how fat they’ve gotten this summer while devouring the skin, brains, and vivid red flesh of sockeye salmon. 

The voting is ultimately done through Katmai’s Facebook page, but before you cast your ballot, it’s time to do a little research:

Your 2018 Fat Bear Week Competitors  

Bear 435, aka “Holly”

In 2014, Holly adopted an orphaned cub that had been abandoned in Katmai. 

This year, she returns with two yearling cubs — cubs that already survived their first year in the wild and are back for a second summer and have their own shared spot on the bracket. 

Holly’s adopted cub, Bear 503, is now a young adult that’s facing off in this year’s Fat Bear Week competition.

Bear 435’s cubs

Bear 480, “Otis”

Bear 747. No, that’s not a nickname. He just grew into his number.

Bear 854, “Divot”

Bear 503 was once adopted by Bear 435, Holly.

Bear 856, the king of the Brooks River.

Bear 151, “Walker”

Bear 409, “Beadnose”

Bear 719

Bear 32, “Chunk”

Bear 812