Fat Bear Week 2
Written by: Natalia Lotinsky, Leah Hawkins, and Julia Wright
Everyone at PIA got to vote for which bear they thought had gained the most weight since earlier in the year. The vote came between the final four bears, 32 chunk, 128 grazer, 901, and 435 holly. each with different skills and personalities.
Our first contestant was 32 Chunk. He is a feared male at Katmai Park. He may only be two and a half years old but is already feared by his competitors. In fact, some bears are so scared of him that they give up their own fishing spots to Chunk!
The second contestant was 128 grazer. This female is a defensive mother bear who holds high dominance with her two litters, which is around six cubs!
Our third contestant was 435 Holly, a compassionate bear. She has an injured cub as her child and even took in a cub that lost its family. Not only this but she might give birth. Holly is the 2019 fat bear champion.
The final contestant is 901, a cautious first time mother. Last hibernation season she gave birth to three cubs! Even though she was extremely careful, she sadly lost a cub. Bear 901 is so careful she goes all the way to the mouth of the river for food to protect her cubs from other bears.
Each of these bears have unique traits that help them survive. All their traits help them gain not only fat for the winter but also votes in the fat bear tournament. In fourth place was 435 Holly with 42 votes. 901 in third with 43 votes. And 32 Chunk with 67 votes. But the bear with the most fat was 128 Grazer!!!
Grazer won with 187 total votes. She had passed second place winner 32 Chunk by over 100 votes! The public had also cast over 1.3 million votes for fat bear week. Bear 128 Grazer had won the public vote with 108,321 votes.
This FAt Bear Week voting tournament was quite a success. It Brought the school together, maybe even the whole country.