Grab a duvet , slap on yourwarmest pajamas , and eat yourself into asugar comatoseness – it ’s time to get gay .
Yes , the most wonderful time of the class is back again , as tomorrow ( October 3 ) sees the beginning of that most majestic of celebrations : Fat Bear Week 2018 .
Since 2014 , Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska has run its annual Fat Bear Week competition . This year it ’ll take seat between October 3 and October 9 . Each day , the bear of Katmai confront off against each other in an online battle to see who will be crowned the heavyweight friend of the park .
But although most of us would plausibly not appreciate a hebdomad give toour expanding waistline , for the porky predators , the monolithic system of weights gain is actually a good sign .
" There ’s no blubber shaming here , " explains Katmai’spress release . " In browned bear , large amounts of body fat are indicative of good health and strong chances of natural selection . "
It all arrive down to the bears ' innate preparations for wintertime . The brownish bear of the Alaska Peninsula , where Katmai National Park sits , are already hefty bois , weighingover 450 kilograms ( 1,000 pounds ) , but since July they ’ve been stacking on extra pounds with a singular devotion : every fall , they enter a period of what ’s be intimate as hyperphagia – essentially , they eat up , and eat , and eat , non - stop , with the exclusive intention of get as fat as potential .
So what ’s behind the month - prospicient munch - a - thon ? Well , it turns out the bears are gearing up for a physical trial like no other : spending up to the next six months at rest .
" They have to have enough fat lay in up to last through up to six months of hibernation , " Katmai parkland ranger Andrew Lavalle toldMashable . " Over the wintertime , they could lose one - third of their total consistence mass . In short , the more fatty you have , the more likely it is that you ’ll come out of the den next fountain . "
This come up week , Katmai Park will post before and after photos of contestants from its famousbear camsto itsFacebookpage , where elector will make up one’s mind , via the very scientific mass medium of clicking " like " , who is the self-aggrandizing bear of all . After a final on October 9 – also known as " Fat Bear Tuesday " in honor of the original one - day celebration – the champion will be declared .
But irrespective of the eventual winner in this engagement of the bulge , the bears all have the same prize in store : month and month of non - stop eating and sleeping . And if that ’s not a profits , we do n’t know what is .
[ H / T : Mashable ]
