Fat Bear Week 2022 has a winner
After a six-day battle and vast amounts of salmon, Fat Bear Week has a winner, BBC News reports.
Brown bear 747, tipping the scales at an estimated 1,400lbs (635kg), won 68,105 votes, beating Bear 901 with 56,876 votes.
The result marks an end to Fat Bear Week 2022, which saw people from around the world vote for the fattest bruin at Alaska's Katmai National Park.
The chow-down spotlights the park's famous brown bears as they feed in preparation for winter hibernation.
"Ultimately, 747 ripped apart the salmon - and the competition - to seize his 2nd crown as the 2022 Champion," the park tweeted after Tuesday's vote.
But Bear 747 nearly didn't make it to the final because of an unprecedented case of voter fraud in the semi-finals that was quickly corrected by officials.
"It appears someone has decided to spam the Fat Bear Week poll, but fortunately it is easy for us to tell which votes are fraudulent," tweeted Katmai National Park on Sunday.
Voting opened on 5 October and officially closed on Tuesday evening.
Bear 747 is an exceptionally large animal that was crowned winner of Fat Bear Week in 2020.
He was first identified by Katmai park staff in 2004. Back then, 747 was a young up-and-comer unable to compete with more seasoned rivals for prime fishing locations.
Since then, 747 has become one of the largest brown bears on earth.