It was only a matter of time before Fat Bear Week turned violent.

The annual online tournament pitting bears who lift heavy forks against their girthy brothers and sisters had a delayed start this year after competitor 469, an adult male bear known as Patches, murdered competitor 402, an adult female.

The gruesome crime was captured on one of the cameras that stream fat bear activity at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, leading officials to delay the planned Monday night release of the tournament bracket.

Following the bear community’s traditional one day of mourning – what ursinologists call “The Day of Grrrrrrrrace” – the brackets were released Tuesday. Fat Bear Week 2024 is now underway, allowing people to vote for the bear they believe “best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears.”

But this shocking one-incident wave of bear-on-bear violence leads me to believe a significant change to this beloved event........

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