Fat Bear Week: Who will be crowned this year’s chunky champion? | NewsNation Now

AND BUSINESS SERVICES. FEDERAL RESERVE OFFICIALS SAY THE STRONG LABOR MARKET IS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO LOWERING INFLATION WELL, THAT’S WHAT IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN. VOTING NOW UNDERWAY TO SEE WHO WILL BECOME THIS YEAR’S THAT BEAR CHAMP EACH YEAR. HUNDREDS OF VOTING FOR THEIR FAVORITE BULKING BEAR LIVING IN ALASKA’S KATMAI NATIONAL PARK. IT’S ALL DONE BRACKET-STYLE AND THEN THE WINNER OF EACH MATCHUP ADVANCES TO THE NEXT ROUND AS WE GET A LIVE LOOK AT BROOKS FALLS. WE’RE ALL THE BEEFY BEARS GATHER EACH AND EVERY SPRING TO FEED ON AS MANY SALMON AS THEY CAN TO

GET AS FAT AS THEY CAN. AND THESE BEARS REALLY GO THROUGH A LOT TO GET TO THE BIGGEST AND MOST DOMINANT BEARS TO THE BEST FISHING SPOTS. THEY HAVE THE BEST ACCESS TO ULTIMATELY TIME TO HIBERNATE. SO LET’S BRING IN THE PERSON WHO CREATED THIS ANNUAL BEER BRACKET. RESIDENT NATURALIST MIKE. IT’S MIKE, THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US. FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE OBVIOUSLY BEEN SO EXCITED IN OUR MEETINGS EVERY DAY. WE TALK ABOUT THAT. THERE IS COMING BACK VERY COMING. ARE THERE ANY EARLY FRONTRUNNERS AND DO YOU H HAVE A FAVORITE? EVERY YEAR THERE’S

A SURPRISE. AND AFTER WEEK, I THINK THIS YEAR. BEARS LIKE NUMBER 32, WHO IS NICKNAMED IT SEEMS TO HAVE A CLEAR PATH TO THE

FINALS AND THEN ALSO 7, 4, 7, I ACTUALLY INDOOR OFFICIALLY ENDORSED THE BEAR WITH THE NUMBER ONE TO 8. SHE’S NICKNAMED GRAZER. SHE IS THE THERE ON THE RIVER. AND I THINK THE BEST ANGLER, SHE DOESN’T HAVE ANY CUBS THIS YEAR, BUT YOU COULD COME BACK WITH COMES NEXT YEAR AND SHE’S EXTREMELY FAT. SHE’S A SUCCESSFUL THERE. ALL RIGHT. BUT THE FACT OF THE MATTER, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THIS CONTEST, MIKE,

YOU THINK THAT APPEALS TO SO MANY PEOPLE? I MEAN, 600,000 PEOPLE VOTED JUST LAST YEAR. WELL, THE BEARS ARE CHARISMATIC ANIMALS, RIGHT? AND WE CAN RELATE TO THEM AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT THEY WE I THINK WE UNDERSTAND THEY HAVE. A STRONG WORK ETHIC. WE ADMIRE THEIR ABILITY TO GET FAT TO SURVIVE BECAUSE THEY ARE DOING THAT TO SURVIVE WINTER HIBERNATION. WE SHOULD LOSE SIGHT OF THAT GOAL FOR THEM. AFTER WEEK ALSO CELEBRATES THE HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY OF KATMAI NATIONAL PARKS ARE RICH ECOSYSTEM AND THAT’S REALLY BROUGHT TO US BY THE ABUNDANT SALMON THAT RETURN

EVERY YEAR. WE HAVE TO THANK THE SALMON. THAT’S A CELEBRATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE BROWN BEARS. BUT IT’S ALSO A CELEBRATION AND RECOGNITION OF THE BENEFITS OF HEALTHY SALMON RUNS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD. YEAH, IT’S TELEPORT SUPPORT. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, THE ECOSYSTEM AS A WHOLE. ARE YOU EXPECTING AN EVEN BIGGER RESPONSE AND MORE PARTICIPATION THIS YEAR? IT SEEMS LIKE WE’RE GOING TO GET THAT. AND I’M THANKFUL FOR THAT. AND THIS SO FAR TODAY, JUST IN THE FIRST 2 AROUND FIRST AND 2 MATCHES THAT WE HAVE. THERE’S BEEN MORE THAN 130,000

VOTES CAST ALREADY. SO I THINK WE’RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO BEATING LAST YEAR’S VOTING TOTAL. ABSOLUTELY. IT REALLY IS. MUST-SEE TO YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU LOG ON WATCH, THIS STUFF WAS JUST GOING TO WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT FOR THESE BEARS TO FATTEN UP? BROWN BEARS IN KATMAI NATIONAL PARK HIBERNATE DURING WINTER. SO DURING THAT TIME OF THE YEAR THEY DON’T EAT, THEY DON’T DRINK AND THEY DON’T URINATE ON DEAF. OKAY. THEIR THEIR SURVIVAL IS FUELED D BY BODY T. SO WHEN THEY’RE BURNING BODY FAT, THEY’RE CREATING THE HEAT NEED TO STAY WARM.

BUT THERE ALSO PRODUCING A METABOLIC WATER THAT THEY NEED TO STAY HYDRATED. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE LIKE AND ALMOST LIKE A DESPERATE HUNGER THAT BEARS AND THAT’S HAPPENING TO THERE’S ACROSS NORTH AMERICA, NOT JUST IN KATMAI TO TO TO PACK ON THE FINAL POUNDS BEFORE THEY GO JUST HAVE A SHORT WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT. WELL, MIKE, BEFORE WE LET YOU GO HAVE TO ASK, HOW DID YOU EVEN COME FORMULATE YOUR HEAD? I WAS A RANGER AT KATMAI WHEN THIS PHENOMENON STARTED. AND IN 2014, I WAS WORKING WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER RANGERS. WE

HAVE BEEN DOING WORK ON THE WEB CAMS AND INTERPRETING THE LIVES OF BEARS TO PEOPLE FOR A WHLE. AND I SAW A BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURE FROM SOMEBODY WHO IS WATCHING THE WEB CAM, THEY SAW THEIR, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE, IN EARLY SUMMER AND IN LATE SUMMER, THE SAME ONE, ED CROOKS MEMBER AND I THEY SAID, HEY, LOOK AT THAT. THIS PAIR AND I THOUGHT SOMETHING JUST CLICKED IN MY BRAIN. SO I THOUGHT WOULD BE KIND OF FUN IF WE GAVE PEOPLE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE FOR WHO THEY THINK BATTISTE IN MOST SUCCESSFUL BOOKS FOR

MAYOR IN THE YEAR. SO WE BRAINSTORMED THE IDEA WE DID A ONE-DAY EVENT. WE REALLY WELL RECEIVED BY THE PUBLIC. SO THAT DAY I DECIDED WE NEED TO EXPAND IT TO A WHOLE WEEK. AND THAT’S HOW THE IDEA FOR FACTOR WEEK WAS GOING WELL. SO MANY PEOPLE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR YOU, MIKE, COMING UP WITH THIS. IT’S AWESOME. AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE KEEPING THEIR EYES ON THOSE BEARS. MIKE GETS.