Fat Bear Week has returned – and the salmon are swimming for their lives

More than 1.7m votes were cast from 100 countries before the public crowned the bear nicknamed ‘Chunk’ as last year’s victor. Photograph: Explore.org More than 1.7m votes were cast from 100 countries before the public crowned the bear nicknamed ‘Chunk’ as last year’s victor. Photograph: Explore.org Alaska Fat Bear Week has returned – and the salmon are swimming for their lives The public will, for the 12th year in a row, vote for the fattest of brown bears in Alaska’s Katmai national park

Prefer the Guardian on Google The bears have returned to the river and are packing on the pounds as another Fat Bear Week begins at Katmai national park.

The 12th annual Fat Bear Week, in which the public will vote for the fattest of Katmai’s brown bears as mothers, cubs and males gather along the salmon-run at Brooks river in Alaska begins on Monday.