Backpack edges past Dancing Queen to win the Fat Bear Week title

Bear known for sitting in solitude won tournament celebrating the animals’ ability to eat large amounts of fish

89 Backpack is the winner of this year’s Fat Bear Week. (Photo by Explore.org)

A chunky ursine called Backpack has out gobbled a challenge from an outsized female nicknamed the Dancing Queen to waltz – or rather waddle – off with the Fat Bear Week title at Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

Backpack, a 20-year-old quiet giant known for sitting in solitude for long periods on his rock on the Brooks River, won by barely 5,000 votes in the public tournament celebrating the brown bears’ ability to eat as many fish, Alaska rangers announced.

More than 2.3 million online votes were cast this year overall, and more than 200,000 votes in the final round alone. The contest has become a popular annual tradition bringing attention to the park’s population of almost 2,000 bears as they gorge on wild salmon to fatten up ahead of their winter hibernation…(Read full story)