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THE BIGGEST GAINER — It's that time of year again.
The days are getting shorter, pumpkin spice-flavored items are returning to store shelves, and voters around the world will soon determine their favorite of the roughly 2,200 brown bears in Alaska's Katmai National Park as they stock up on extra fat to last them through the winter.
Fat Bear Week, a tradition since 2014, will be extra sweet for fans this year, because it almost didn't happen.
The tournament-style bracket which drew more than 1 million votes last year is run by employees of the national park, who would have been barred from using official social media accounts in the event of a widely-expected government shutdown.
To be clear, the bears would have continued to put on weight for the winter, but no one would have been around to tally votes in the nation's fluffiest popularity contest.
Fortunately, Congress voted to keep the government open, although it remains unclear if the continuation of Fat Bear Week was a primary motivator for most senators and representatives.
Katmai National Park will release this year's bracket Monday afternoon, and you can participate by voting daily at explore.org/fat-bear-week through Oct. 10.
Explore.org also has several livestreams where viewers can catch bears gorging themselves on salmon in preparation for this year's contest.
Have You Seen This?
Apparently, bears can open doors now
Is it just me, or are bears getting more and more clever by the minute?
