"Backpack" crowned winner of Fat Bear Week

After a week of voting, we now have a winner for this year's Fat Bear Week. Meet Backpack. There he is. Backpack defeated last year's champ, Chunk, in the final round. Oh, he's glorious. Alaska's Katmai National Park holds the annual Fat Bear Week contest to showcase bears' weight gain ahead of hibernation. He's getting a salmon right there. Let's go live now to resident naturalist at explore.org, Mike Fitz. Mike, we had you on the program last week, and you mentioned that you loved Backpack. What can you tell us about our winner, including how did he get the name Backpack? He got his nickname because he rode on his mother's back when he was a first year cub, while she was swimming in the water. Often he didn't want to swim alongside her, and it was just easier to latch on to her. So that's how he got his nickname, and he's kept it ever since. But I'm so happy that he was voted the fattest and most successful bear at Brooks River this year. He's now a 20-year-old bear, and we've had the pleasure of seeing him grow up and mature at Brooks River.

Amazing. I'm so happy to see him doing so, so well. Do you have an idea of how much weight he's put on over the past few months or so as he prepares for hibernation?

I can only give a rough estimate. The Bears in Katmai National Park in mid-summer-- so let's say beginning of August, middle of August-- the adult males, they average 700 to 900 pounds. This time of the year, though, Backpack's probably going to weigh more than 1,000 pounds. I'd be really surprised if he was less than 1,000 pounds right now.

Gosh, I wonder how much fish he's had to eat to put on that kind of poundage. They can eat several thousand pounds in the summer, so yeah. They're all working towards getting fat for winter hibernation. That's the goal for them. And Fat Bear Week is just a way for us to tell those stories.

So give us a sense of the other top contenders. I understand Backpack, he won heartily. But there were others there. There were other contenders there.

Absolutely. The bear he faced off against in the final match was a bear known as number 910. She's an adult female. She didn't have cubs this year. But she's looking really great. And the fact that she gained in preparation for hibernation is only going to help her survival. But she could give birth to a litter of cubs this winter and come back to Brooks River with a new litter of cubs. So those moms have to work extra hard because their fat reserves not only help them survive winter hibernation, but are also the key to the health and success of their newborn cubs.

They are eating for multiples. That is so interesting to watch. Oh, it's just been such a pleasure to watch Fat Bear Week. Thank you so much for talking about it and for introducing us to Backpack. He's definitely the fan favorite. You're welcome. All right, Mike, thanks so much.