Bears are pitted against each other in the annual competition with before and after pictures of when they have eaten themselves up for the long winter. But it is also the bears' personality and achievements that govern the voting, as they are also followed in live broadcasts.
This year, a record number have cast their vote, reports The Guardian. The bear Chunk can now go into hibernation as the winner – with its estimated 544 kilos and over 96,000 votes.
Chunk drew attention during the competition when he got to eat large amounts of salmon despite having a broken jaw for much of the summer. He is believed to have gotten the fracture after a fight with a male over a female.
"Fat Bear Week" is an annual event since 2014, organized by Katmai National Park in Alaska to highlight the bears and their ecosystem. Katmai is known for being a hunting ground for the world's largest brown bears.
