There’s a new giant king of the fat bears

In the realm of the fat bears, they are two particularly legendary titans.

Bears 747 and 856 (conferred those numbers by biologists) are large, dominant bears who feast on salmon in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. They’re also both internet-famous bears, as they’re viewed by people globally on the explore.org bear cams, and are regular competitors in the park’s Fat Bear Week contest — a celebration of these animals succeeding in their wild, harsh homes.

Yet there can only be one dominant bear.

For most of the last decade, the hyper-aggressive bear 856 dominated Katmai’s Brooks River, where the bears spend the summer and fall. He intimidated other bears from the best fishing spots, and earned many mating opportunities. Yet a recent, intense encounter suggests bear 856’s long, impressive reign may be over, especially as he ages. (He’s around 20, which is older for a brown bear. Bear 747, however, is a similar age).

New bear cam footage caught the colossal bear 747 — the winner of last year’s Fat Bear Week contest and long the largest, fattest bear on the cams — asserting his dominance over bear 856. Beneath the iconic Brooks waterfall, bear 747 approached bear 856 and intimidated him, ultimately displacing 856 from a prime fishing spot in the river. (Brown bears usually intimidate with bold posturing, as opposed to brawling and potentially hurting themselves.)

“Perhaps the tables have turned,” said Mike Fitz, a former Katmai park ranger and currently a resident naturalist for explore.org.

It’s possible bear 856 is enfeebled, and bear 747 knows it.

“Maybe 856 isn’t feeling as strong or as well as he did in recent years,” explained Fitz. “Maybe he suffers from an injury or illness that we can’t see. Maybe the rigors of his aggressive dominance over the past decade have caught up with him. The boldness of 747 suggests that he recognized an opportunity to establish his dominance over a long-time rival, and he was keen to take advantage of the chance.”

You can watch bear 747 (on the left) displacing bear 856 in the clip below:

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Bear 856 in a recent season.
Credit: M. Fitz / Nps

Fitz says that “perhaps the tables have turned” because it’s still possible bear 856 will regain his former strength or assertiveness as the summer progresses. In 2017, a skinny-looking, perhaps injured 856 backed away from other large bears, but eventually reclaimed his form and become dominant once again.

What will happen this year, after bear 747 essentially punked a submissive bear 856 in the river, is a saga that will likely play out on the bear cams. The cams film the happenings at the most bustling parts of the Brooks River, and often document hierarchy battles and even violent fights.

The saga is made especially intriguing by these bears’ long history together. They’ve fished together at Katmai’s Brooks River since the mid-aughts. But 856 has long kept the upper hand.

“They’ve encountered each other year after year, and after they matured into large adults 856 consistently asserted his dominance over 747 (excluding 856’s off-year in 2017),” said Fitz. “This gave 856 greater access to preferred fishing spots and mating opportunities compared to 747.”

We’ll be following the livestreamed wild drama. And you can too.