Fat Bear Week postponed after fight between 2 bears ends in death

A fight to the death between two brown bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve on Monday, Sept. 30, caught on a popular livestream has led to the postponement of a planned announcement of competitors for the Fat Bear Week. Katmai National Park and Preserve officials say an adult male bear identified as 469 or “Patches,” killed a beloved female competitor known as 402.

Although park officials said that deadly incidents do happen between bears, this one was considered shocking enough to postpone the announcement.

“I think we’re at a little bit of a loss of words,” said Mike Fitz, an official at Katmai National Park and Preserve during a livestream recounting the death. “We were talking before the broadcast, but even right now, I thought maybe I could do this a little more eloquently, but yeah, this is really difficult to see.”

The struggle between the bears lasted roughly 20 minutes, and eventually, the female was killed, likely from drowning, according to park officials.

Monday’s deadly encounter is the second bear death caught on camera this year. In July, a bear cub was killed after it crossed paths with another competitor named “Chunk.” Chunk attacked the cub, which died days later from its wounds.

Following the latest death, competition organizers say they will reveal the tournament bracket on Tuesday, Oct. 1, during the evening hours, which can be watched here.

Fat Bear Week will take place as scheduled from Wednesday, Oct. 2, through Tuesday, Oct. 8.

The livestream can be viewed here. Warning: The video is graphic.