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.