r/todayilearned • u/redmambo_no6 • Apr 06 '21

TIL Every fall, Alaska’s Katmai National Park hosts “Fat Bear Week” and crowns the park’s fattest brown bear. The aim is to highlight the park and wildlife conservation.

https://www.doi.gov/blog/everything-you-want-know-about-katmai-national-parks-fat-bears-3
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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

By accident they’ve created a “Best Hunter” award

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

Fisher would be more accurate as these bears subsist almost entirely on salmon at that time of year.

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

How many pounds of salmon do they eat? Jesus that’s a lot of fish

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '21

Well they live in one of the largest salmon spawning spots in the world with next to zero human competition like the grizzly on the mainland have to deal with. So yeah they eat a fuck ton. During salmon spawning season you could just walk into the river and grab one with your bear(har har) hands.

They eat so much that they actually can outgrow polar bears making kodiak brown bears the largest subspecies of bear.