Online voting in Alaska’s Fat Bear Week contest starts after an attack killed 1 contestant
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Voting starts in the annual Fat Bear Week contest at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. Starting Wednesday viewers were able to pick their favorite among a dozen brown bears fattened up to survive the winter. The contest, which is in its 10th year, celebrates the resiliency of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve. The animals gorge on the abundant sockeye salmon that return to the Brooks River, sometimes chomping the fish in midair as they try to hurdle a small waterfall. Organizers introduced this year’s contestants a day late because one anticipated participant was killed by a male bear.
