'89 Backpack' crowned winner of Fat Bear Week

A brown bear known as "89 Backpack" has been named the winner of Fat Bear Week, an annual online contest celebrating the bears of Katmai that have bulked up the most ahead of hibernation.

The bear was described by one supporter as having both the "chonk and the badonk," reflecting the light-hearted spirit of the contest, which draws attention each year to the bears' remarkable weight gain as they prepare for winter.

89 Backpack will shortly enter hibernation, a period that can last up to six months, during which bears rely on the fat reserves built up over the preceding months to survive without eating.

Fat Bear Week has become a popular yearly tradition, drawing public interest to the bears that fatten up along rivers before winter sets in.