By Richard GrayFeatures correspondent@chalkmark

With the victor of this year's Fat Bear Week due to be announced, we look at the fortunes of some past champions and why one is missing.

Perched precariously on her posterior at the riverside, bear 409 looks the very epitome of gluttony. After months of gorging on sockeye salmon, she has tucked away enormous stores of fat to see her through the cold winter months. Her impressive size saw bear 409 – or "Beadnose" as she was nicknamed – crowned the 2018 Champion of Alaska's Katmai National Park's annual Fat Bear Week.

The competition, which began in 2014, has seen members of the public cast in excess of a million votes in some years for their favourite brown bears; all while the animals gobble down dozens of salmon each day at feeding hotspots on the park's Brooks River, ahead of their winter months spent in a deep sleep known as torpor. Gaining weight is important for the bears, as once they enter their den they will not eat or drink until they emerge again in the spring. 

Although salmon runs in Katmai have been high in recent years, there are some concerns about how the fish might respond to the high temperatures and weather this summer.

Brown bears can lose up to one-third of their bodyweight over their winter as they survive entirely off their fat supplies. Those with too little might not make it.

But even then, the extra weight might not be enough.

Beadnose's impressive weight gain in 2018 appeared to indicate she was in a good position to get through the winter months. She had already raised four litters of cubs since first being identified as a subadult bear in 1999. Sadly, however, the following year she wasn't seen in the park and hasn't been sighted since. Her disappearance remains unexplained.

"I presume she is deceased since she had previously used Brooks River every year since she was a 2.5-year-old bear," says Mike Fitz, a former park ranger who founded Fat Bear Week in 2014 and now resident naturalist at explore.org, which maintains a livestream of the bears. 

But the outcome isn't always so sad. This year's Fat Bear Week contenders include many past winners. With the deciding votes now being cast in this year's competition, here is a look at some of the heavyweights who have previously taken the crown.

Bear 747 tipped the scales at an estimated 1,400lbs (635kg) when he won Fat Bear Week in 2022, but he nearly didn't make it to the final after a case of apparent "voter fraud" in the semi-finals. According to Fitz, Fat Bear Week is an important celebration of the health and productivity of the ecosystem in Katmai National Park. "Bears at Brooks River haven't faced the same challenges regarding food as other bears in areas of North America where salmon runs have dwindled," he says.

Even winners start the summer looking decidedly scrawny, as can be seen in this image of bear 480, also known as Otis, which was taken in July 2021. But in the autumn, bears enter a physiological state known as hyperphagia, where the chemical leptin, which tells their bodies they are full, is suppressed. It allows them to eat non-stop.

But sockeye salmon contain about 4,000 calories each, so after stuffing themselves with dozens of these each day, Otis took the Fat Bear Week title in 2021. Bears have been seen eating up to 40 salmon in a single sitting, but they tend to only consume the most calorie dense parts of the fish, such as the skin, roe and brain. 

Bear 435 – also known as Holly – is a favourite contender each year and won Fat Bear Week in 2019. Believed to be in her mid to late 20s, she is often highly protective of her favourite fishing spots on Brooks River, which is part of the Bristol Bay region of southwest Alaska. "Over the last 40 years, the sockeye runs in Bristol Bay have been strong and remarkably consistent," says Fitz. "It is the last great salmon run left on Earth." 

Sadly, Beadnose – bear 409 – hasn't been seen in Katmai National Park since she became the Fat Bear Week champion in 2018. She is the only past winner in our gallery who is not part of this year's vote. "Although she was very fat when she was last seen, fat reserves are only one part of the survival equation," says Fitz. "Bears suffer from many illnesses and ailments that affect their survival." (Credit: NPS Photo/A. Ramos)

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