The week of October 5th to the 11th marks an annual milestone in the transition to winter. While the leaves crisp into autumnal hues and our gazes shift to the pleasures of pumpkin spice, fuzzy titans lurk behind the tree lines and through river banks of Katmai National Park. They’ve been preparing since mid-July to take the spotlight, and their week has finally arrived. 2022’s competitors for Fat Bear Week are bloated and ready to be voted.

The idea of a vote to crown the fattest originated from former Katmai park ranger Mike Fitz, who extensively documents bear behavior on his personal blog. Now serving as a board of directors member for the Katmai Conservancy, he has come to support Fat Bear Week as more than a competition of roundness.

“Katamai’s brown bears are at their fattest in the late summer and early fall. It is the end-product of their summer-long effort to satisfy their profound hunger and prepare for winter hibernation… Fat bears exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska, a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet,” Fitz stated in Fat Bear Week’s page on explore.org.

The face-off compiles pictures across dozens of specimens before and after their seasonal bulk-up. Bears are then funneled into a bracket where they are voted through based upon a variety of circumstances. While it is implored to cast votes based on extenuating factors like adversity and age, the crown is ultimately relegated to the specimen with the most meat on its bones.

The last winning king of calories was number 480 “Otis,” a four-time champion in the Fat Bear Week ring. (While bears are assigned identification numbers, rangers dub them pet names.) As of now the veteran awaits his vote in the quarter-finals against 128 “Grazer,” a mother bear with an inclination to take on larger bears, even adult males to protect her cubs.

Other contenders in the remaining bracket include 32 “Chunk,” a charming adult that demonstrates many behaviors out of character for a dominant male, like playing with other individuals. His opposition is 435 “Holly,” another mother that recently separated from her last cub and spent the summer heavily bulking.

To cast your vote for the fattest of the fat, head over to the Fat Bear Week website when the bracket opens and wait for the voting widgets to become available. The final vote will take place October 11th.