Welcome to Fat Bear Week, Day 1!
Today we have a total of four matches—eight bears!—to weigh. New this year is the introduction of family groups. Female bears who are well-fed going into hibernation are more likely to have the nutrients needed to birth and care for cubs in the den. The adorable outcome of last year’s record-breaking salmon run is this year’s record-breaking cub arrivals. Katmai National Park counted 37 cubs across 19 bear families. Five of those families are in this year’s bracket; four of those families are in today’s first two matches.
MATCH 1: The 132 Family vs The 284 Electra Family
Important: these are all working, single moms – there is no help from papa bears! The bears themselves may not be the fattest physically, but they are single-handedly feeding their entire family. I suggest calculating total pounds as you weigh your decisions.
Bear 132 is rounding up not one, not two, but three chubby cubbies, and the whole fam is looking happy and fat. Her success is surely attributed to her wisdom and experience; she is one of the oldest bears on the bracket (21 years old) and this is her fourth known litter.
284 Electra has two spring cubs that the bear cam community affectionately call the “Electralytes,” or sometimes “Electralyte and Electradark” referencing their fur color. Electra comes from a long and strong matrilineal line that has returned to Brooks River for generations. She is a fierce, defensive mama bear.
Actually, 284 Electra and 132 fought in real life one day this summer. 132 caught a fish, Electra mooched, and 132 allowed it. When 132 was done eating she attempted to walk away, but she stepped too close to one of the Electralytes. Electra blew a fuse, 132 flipped back, and the cubs scattered as the moms had a meltdown. No bears were harmed, physically, in this altercation. But, it was one of many examples of the surging tension between families this summer.
MATCH 2: The 806 Family vs The 901 Family
These are the grown daughters of 132 and 284 Electra, respectively.
How to even sum up the 806 family? 806 arrived this spring with one cutie patootie and then surprised us all by adopting the freshly-emancipated 128jr (also known as Biggie). Biggie is 128 Grazer’s daughter and is at a developmentally-appropriate time to start adulting, but Biggie was like “in THIS economy?” and dragged her paws moving out. 806 either took her in or gave her a nanny job, unclear. Either way, 806 is providing for and protecting Biggie as one of her own. Adoption is rare in the bear world, but this is the third documented instance at Brooks River.
And so, many of us were shocked to see 806 attack, kill, and partially consume 909’s wandering spring cub, just several weeks later. Not being bears, and not being this particular bear, we can’t know exactly why this happened, though many suspect the cub running kicked on her prey drive. Infanticide is already an uncommon behavior, and until this incident had only been committed by boars at Brooks River—never a sow. 806 is not a bad bear. I also don’t feel emotionless about the incident. It’s complicated. Being complicated is part of what makes me human and what makes 806 a bear. I am reminded of my own maternal, primal instincts that make me a more generous and compassionate person with some people, and more fearsome with others. 806 and I come from different species, and we make different choices, but it’s true that we are both unique individuals navigating complex worlds. Their unpredictability (to us) only underscores the depth of their inner and outer lives.
While we mourn many cub deaths this summer, we must also celebrate the survivors. 901 (the other bear in this match) knows loss deeply. She endured the loss of her entire three-cub litter, one by one, in 2023, and another cub this June. But she has one remaining cub, and she is holding on tight. A thing about 901 is that she is very good at getting very fat and she and her cub are like two roly-poly ovals, rolling around the river. Their bond is strong, maybe the thickest thing on this bracket.
MATCH 3: 909 vs 428 Studious
There’s a lot of sow power on this year’s bracket, and Match 3 boasts two dynasty bears! 909 (daughter of 409 Beadnose) goes brow to brow with 428 Studious (daughter of 128 Grazer, granddaughter of 408 Crooked Claw).
This summer has been marked with abundance and grief. Life is not easy out in these trees and doesn’t 909 know it. She arrived with two cubs. She will be leaving with none.
Perhaps no other bear at Brooks River yells as much as 909. But, given her summer, I think I would yell, too.
She’s up against 428 Studious, a focused, straight-A babe of a bear. She looks and acts just like her mother and her mother before her. Born successful: that’s 428.
MATCH 4: 131 Marshmallow vs 910
131 Marshmallow, daughter of 482 Brett, comes from a family of absolutely fabulous fur. Bear for bear, they have the best hair of Brooks River. Blowout aside, Marshmallow is a naturally fluffy, toasted softie, and this year in particular she really puffed out. For those impressed by weight gain, please see Marshmallows’s before and after pics, because we have officially entered jumbo size.
She faces 910 (sister to 909 and daughter of 409 Beadnose), who is enjoying another hot grrl summer as a single sow. Normally known as a family girl, 910 is also a massive flirt. We know she, um, went on some dates with bears 151 Walker and 164 Bucky, both of whom are humongous hunks. She has a type, and the type is really big boar.
There is not a thin thing about 910. She is as fat as a cruise ship. Is she full steam ahead?
May the fattest bear win! Vote today from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. AKST at fatbearweek.org.
