The Fat Bear Week contest celebrates the resiliency of Alaska's brown bears which face both remarkable abundance and hard realities of survival in their environment.
"We love to celebrate the success of bears with full stomachs... but the ferocity of bears is real. Their lives can be hard and their deaths painful," says naturalist Mike Fitz.
"National parks like Katmai protect not only the wonders of nature, but also the harsh realities," remarked park spokesperson Matt Johnson, encapsulating the struggle for survival.
This year's contest faced a somber note as one bear, Bear 402, a victim of a fatal fight, highlighted the intense competition for survival among bears.
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