Wide-Bodied Bear, Dubbed ‘747,’ Named Alaska’s Fattest Bear

In Alaska’s annual battle of heavyweights, a bear named 747 has been crowned the fattest out of the more than 2,200 brown bears occupying Katmai National Park and Preserve.

The bear, named after the jetliner by the same name, won the title on Tuesday after a week of fan voting. The competition, known as Fat Bear Week, has become an international sensation. The week sees 12 bears facing off in brackets while fans vote for their favorites. It’s about “survival of the fattest,” as the Park Service puts it.

The national park agreed with fans that 747 was deserving of the win, saying in a statement, “This year he really packed on the pounds, looking like he was fat enough to hibernate in July and yet continuing to eat until his belly seemed to drag along the ground by late September.” The Alaskan bears in Katmai can swell to well over 1,000 pounds from summer feasting and subsequently lose a third of that weight during hibernation.

The annual competition appeals to people for a lot of reasons, one being that it lets humans learn about the bears and the nature in Alaska in a fun way. Katmai National Park and Preserve is a four-million acre land area, covering mountains, lakes, streams, a coastline and the densest population of brown bears in the world.