Iconic Fat Bear Week competition thrown into chaos after one

A fight between two Fat Bear Week contestants halted the competition after one bear killed another in a gruesome, televised brawl. 

An adult male and female were caught on the competitions' livestream fighting in the mouth of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. 

Resident naturalist for explore.org, Mike Fitz, gave commentary on the deadly altercation between the two bears. 

Fitz said: 'Watching bears attack other bears is often difficult to see, especially if a bear kills another bear so this is a difficult situation to witness.'

The commentators had little idea what started the fight, but said they didn't believe it was over food resources but rather a 'dominance' fight. 

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Katmai Park Ranger Sarah Bruce said: 'He's a predator toward this female bear... We don't know why they're fighting... [These are] two bears very clearly not playing around.'

The two bears were seen on the livestream footage fighting in the river. Adult male number 469 and adult female number 402 battled for more than 20 minutes, before 402 was killed by 469.     

According to Bruce, during this time of year, bears are in a state of hyperphagia where they try and eat 'anything and everything they can'. 

'It's an uncommon thing to see, a bear predating on another bear, but it's not completely out of the question,' she added. 

Bruce said that there is little sense as to why a bear would waste energy on a bear for food resources in this way. 

The bears were briefly separated with hopes that they had disengaged, until the male bear swam back and pursued the female, which Fitz said was an indicator that the fight was a display of power.  

'This is just a demonstration of strength and power; it's a clear reminder of how big and strong and powerful these animals actually are,' he said.

The male bear, number 469, is an easily identifiable bear with darker fur and a patch of light fur on his shoulder. The two bears were fairly similar in size, Noami Boak said: 'It's pretty clear that she is fighting for her life.'

Fitz added that in these interactions with bears, the submissive or subordinate bear will hope that the clearly larger or more powerful bear will disengage.

It was presumed that 402 was overpowered and drowned by the male bear, Fitz said: 'The situation that we dealt with today was difficult to witness we love to celebrate the success of bears with full stomachs, and ample body fat, but the ferocity of bears is real. The risks that they face is real. Their lives can be hard, and their deaths can be painful.'

Around 10 minutes into the river fight, 402 died before her remains were pulled ashore by 469 and pulled at by his teeth before she was dragged off camera. 

Bruce said: 'It's amazing to have this unique opportunity to get a peek into the lives of these wild brown bears and this is the reality of it, that doesn't mean that it's an easy reality to accept. It's certainly not an easy reality to watch.'

Boak added: [We can't] assume a bear's behavior is like our behavior, it's very different.' 

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Fat Bear Week has a winner! 128 Grazer - a defensive mother bear and first-time winner of the title - beats out favorite 32 Chunk for the title

The Fat Bear Week is an annual competition, now in its 10th year, that 'celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears'.

The competition is held at Katmai National Park, and this year it will take place from October 2-8.

Wildlife and bear enthusiasts are invited to observe the bears in their natural habitats in Alaska, home to one of the greatest salmon runs left on earth, where viewers vote for the bear they believe 'best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears'.

In 2023, the Fat Bear Competition Winner was a female bear named 128 Grazer who earned a reputation as ' a particularly defensive mother bear who has successfully raised two litters of cubs', according to Fat Bear Week's website. 

The year before, the 2022 winner, who also took the title in 2020, was bear 747 after an online cheating scandal disrupted the semifinals, according to CNN. 

His online profile on Explore.org said 747 is one of the biggest brown bears on Earth, possibly weighing as much as 1,400 pounds. 

The competition also added in a Fat Bear Junior competition in 2021 for cubs to vie for their own title.  

Fitz announced that the bracket reveal for 2024 will be postponed until 7 pm eastern time on Tuesday.