【Esther Studer】

Welcome toFat Bear Weekat Mashable! Each fall,Esther Studer Katmai National Park holds a competition as Alaska’s brown bears finish fattening up for their long winter hibernation. This year, Mashable is getting in on the salmon-munching action. Check back with us all week as we follow the fat bear face-offs each day, and remember to get your votes in for each round. Happy fishing!

---

Fat bear aficionados, it's time to meet your final four.

In an upset that won't soon be forgotten, Bear 32 Chunk took down the most dominant bear at the river this summer, Bear 856. Bear 856's fat just couldn't cut it.

In Saturday's second matchup, Bear 747 -- a beloved fat bear by watchers of the river's drama -- also advanced to the final four beating out the smaller, Bear 719.

The week's mayhem has been leading to this first matchup of the final four between two big beauties of the Brooks River: Divot and Beadnose.

Divot is most known for the time she was rescued by Katmai National Park rangers after she was caught in a snare some years ago. You can still see the mark left by that snare in the form of a scar around her neck.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Beadnose is now a full-fledged internet celebrity after a photo of her sitting on the river bank in all her fat glory was shared on Twitter alongside an image of her more svelte self from earlier in the summer.

SEE ALSO: Bear hibernation is a superpower, but it comes with a cost

"Fat is a sign of a successful bear and these bears need enough to survive up to six months of hibernation," Katmai wrote on its Facebook page opening up the voting.

"In this round: metabolic magician 409 Beadnose goes up against no stranger to the gallery of calories, 854 Divot. Whose salmon-sourced cellulite supersedes?"

You can vote for whichever bear you think has fattened up the most on Katmai's Facebook page by hitting the "Like" button on the bear you think is most deserving of the first spot in the final. Voting will remain open until 10:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Beadnose or Divot will then go on to face either Bear 747 or Chunk, depending on the results of their match on Monday.

While Fat Bear Week is fun and games for everyone watching, it's literally a matter of life and death for the bears themselves.

Brown bears fatten up during Alaska's summer months in order to make it through hibernation during the long, dark, and cold winters.

The fattest bears have the best chance of living off those fat stores -- built of calorie dense salmon -- and emerging relatively unscathed as the seasons change again.

---

Featured Video For You

---

14 wonderfully strange names for groups of animals

---

• Tech
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Social Good
• Deals
• Games
• Digital Culture
• Science

• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 2: Tips to solve 'Connections' #691.
• This video of random Scottish people crowdsurfing in the road is simply glorious
• 'Black Panther' ties 'The Incredibles' for Rotten Tomatoes top score
• Apple finally has a plan to fix buggy iOS updates, report says
• Wombat butt biting sex habits could be helpful for its survival
• Larsen C Iceberg revealed waters unexposed for at least 120,000 years
• 11 times Alyssa from 'The End of the F***ing World' was the ultimate DGAF badass
• Verizon phones will be locked in stores to prevent theft, for now
• Mary Shows Up
• Snapchat's dating show Second Chance returns with season 2 on Feb. 14

• Lady Gaga is so good at folding things
• What is a lunar eclipse? Everything to know about the blood moon.
• Microsoft releases new line of mouse and keyboard accessories for people with disabilities
• Google gives us a peek at its new AR glasses
• Chris Evans' pup deserves a Grammy for this howling dog park duet
• Les Moonves leaves CBS, $20 million to be donated to #MeToo movement
• Let Chelsea Peretti eat cake (even if she does it wrong)
• Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 16
• Watch Obama reminisce about the time he got kicked out of Disneyland
• Google I/O 2022: Google makes the Pixel Watch official

• Exceptionally rare radio sources detected in the distant universe
• Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers
• Snapchat lenses take you to Elon Musk's space Tesla, 'Rick and Morty'
• Everyone wants to feed Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim junk food now
• How This Long
• This guy thought he'd bought Red Hot Chili Peppers tickets and got a big surprise
• This person's genius idea for decorating the stairs will delight all you cartophiles out there
• Amazon layoffs hit hundreds as Jeff Bezos touts future of Alexa
• U.N. confirms the ocean is screwed
• Every glorious moment Benji appears in Netflix's new 'Benji' trailer

• Amazon Spring Sale 2025: Best deals on cleaning supplies
• Mashable launches AMP stories in partnership with Google
• Relive the glory days of the Pogo Bal with our new show 'The Toy Shop'
• Apple CEO Tim Cook wants to see the end of money
• Best Apple deal: Save $60 on the Apple Watch SE
• How to change back to the old version of Snapchat on iPhone
• Arizona considers allowing tax payments in Bitcoin
• You should watch 'Fruitvale Station' before watching 'Black Panther'
• Why Building a Gaming PC Right Now is a Bad Idea, Part 1: Expensive DDR4 Memory
• Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg share their 'Invincible' movie plans