‘89 Backpack’ has been named the winner of Fat Bear Week.
Since 2014, the annual online poll has celebrated the hundreds of bears who live in the U.S. state of Alaska’s Katmai National Park.
Fans vote for the bear they think did the best job to bulk up on salmon in preparation for their winter hibernation.
Katmai staff say Backpack has “a quiet strength,” and got his name from his habit of climbing on his mother’s back while they swam across rivers when he was a cub.
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Backpack is known for his general lack of aggression, though he will stand up for himself “when necessary,” Fat Bear Week organisers say.
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As a young cub, Backpack injured his leg in unknown circumstances.
He spent the summer by his mother’s side and was able to live on his own by the following year.
“Although some bears are brawlers who thrive in the face of competition, others find a way to live within calmer niches.
These bears, like Backpack, express their own versions of toughness, yet are no less successful than their more aggressive counterparts.
Backpack’s quiet toughness has allowed him to find his niche alongside the biggest bears at Brooks River.”
