Fat Bear Week 2024 Delayed After Fatal Bear Fight Appears on Katmai National Park Livestream

A confrontation between two bears pushed back the kickoff to the annual competition, which occurs ahead of the bears' hibernation

Fat Bear Week, set to announce its brackets on Monday, Sept. 30, has been delayed following a fatal fight between two Alaskan grizzlies in Katmai National Park.

According to CBS, a clash between a male bear, referred to as 469 and "Patches," and an older female bear, referred to as 402, by the Brooks River in Katmai led to one of the bears dying—and the incident was caught on one of the park's livestreams.

The bears were "grappling, biting and thrashing at each other," The Washington Post reported. Bear 469 ultimately overtook 402, who sank into the water.

Mike Fritz, resident naturalist at Explore.org, which hosts the Fat Bear Week contest, spoke about the fight during a livestream scheduled to announce the 2024 Fat Bear Week bracket.

"Earlier today, a bear killed another bear on the river. It was caught live on the webcams, and we thought, well, we can't go ahead with our Fat Bear Week bracket reveal without addressing this situation first," he said via CBS. Fritz added that officials believe the animal confrontation was food-related.

"We love to celebrate the success of bears with full stomachs and ample body fat," he continued, pointing out the reality of the massive animals. "But the ferocity of bears is real, the risks that they face are real, their lives can be hard, and their deaths can be painful."

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Katmai Park ranger Sarah Bruce also spoke on the livestream about the unfortunate incident, explaining that bears are ravenous during this time of year, consuming as much as they can as they prepare for hibernation.

"I don't know why a bear would want to expend so much energy trying to kill another bear as a food source," she said. "It's an uncommon thing to see a bear predating on another bear, but it's not completely out of the question. So it's hard to say how this started."

Bruce told The Washington Post that aggressive interactions between bears are usually brief. This particular skirmish lasted over 20 minutes.

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According to The Washington Post, the Fat Bear Week bracket will now be announced on Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. ET, and voting for Fat Bear Week 2024 will run through Oct. 8.

Fat Bear Week occurs annually, celebrating the bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park as they bulk up ahead of hibernation, gaining hundreds of pounds.

During the event, bear fanatics vote at explore.org/fat-bear-week on which bear, based on its accumulated mass, they think is most prepared for hibernation.

There are typically several rounds of voting to eliminate bears, and a winner is crowned before hibernation kicks off. The Washington Post reports that the annual event has been live-streamed since 2012, and more than 10 million people tune in to watch the bears bulk up.

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Bear 402, who died due to the fight, had never won Fat Bear Week but was known for being a protective mother who gave birth to eight litters of cubs during her life at Katmai National Park.

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