The annual Fat Bear competition is over at explore.org, and Grazer has won. Explore is a Web site that offers a glimpse into our greater, wilder, wider world and is the brainchild of Charlie Annenberg Weingarten, who set about developing an extensive network of nature and animal cameras accessible for free to anyone with a computer or cell phone (yes, there is an app for it) in order to promote education and conservation. If you want to watch live streams of birds at a feeder in Panama, or kitties playing at a rescue facility in Los Angeles, or Great Dane puppies training as service dogs in Massachusetts, there are cameras for that. There are also cameras set up on Hawaii’s beaches so you can watch the waves, and all manner of other landscapes all over the world. Earlier this year, one of Explore’s cameras on Dumpling Mountain in Katmai National Park recorded a man frantically gesturing that he was lost, so camera-watchers contacted Explore, who contacted rangers at Katmai, who found the guy and probably saved his life. Which brings us back to Fat Bears.
Katmai National Park is in Alaska, and the brown bears that fish the river have built up a big following over the years. In spring, when the salmon season begins, the bears come out looking haggard and hungry, sometimes bringing their cubs with them. There is a chat feature on Explore so that people can share observations and screen shots of the antics of the dozen or so frequent visitors to Brooks River. Rangers schedule online talks about the bears and answer questions on a regular basis. Seven live cameras pick up the drama from several locales and underwater. And as the salmon season ends and the bears have eaten as much as they can and are thinking about their long winter naps, the viewers get to vote on their favorite Fat Bear. Tens of thousands of people vote for their favorite adult and junior Fat Bears.
2023 Fat Bear Grazer is a mama bear, and is truly a Mama Bear who will charge at much larger bears in defense of her cubs — and larger bears avoid her when they can. Holly “adopted” another bear’s cub a couple of years ago to raise as her own. Other chonk-monsters squatted under the falls at Brooks River and tried to catch the leaping salmon or snorkeled and pounced on their prey. The mamas sat the cubs in safe places where they could watch how it was done, sometimes skittering up trees if they felt threatened by larger bears. Some of the youngsters would venture out and the mamas would keep an eye on them to keep them out of trouble. There was always something happening at Katmai.
The National Park Service graciously allows the Explore cameras at Katmai, as well as the Channel Islands in California. Sanctuaries for rescued donkey, horses, farm animals and wildlife rehab are on cameras. They have education programs for kids in classrooms, and many of the cameras have become favorite spaces for seniors to watch and comment from the comfort of their homes.
As the Katmai Fat Bears get ready to fade into the woods and take their winter nap and their cameras go to “highlight reels,” feel free to explore the many parts of the world and the wondrous creatures in it through Explore cams.