The world enjoyed fat bear week and a winner was crowned on October 6th. Fat bears live in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The native bears prepare for winter hibernation by gorging themselves, mostly on salmon. Prior to last year, the winning bear's massive bulk was judged approximately . But Joel Cusick who works for the National Park Service came up with a way to use laser technology to measure the fat bears of Katmai. Cusick was observing the bears at world famous Brooks Falls when the idea hit him: use a LIDAR scanner to measure a fat bear's volume. LIDAR, which stands for light detection and ranging, emits light beams to measure three dimensional objects and areas. Archeologists are using LIDAR to see through the rainforests of Central America to find previously undiscovered Mayan buildings and settlements. This is the first time the technology has been used to measure the size of bears. The new technique could be very useful and less intrusive for measuring wildlife difficult or dangerous to weigh at close quarters such as polar bears.
Katmai bears are usually measured in the spring when they are thin from hibernation. The skinny bears are easier to lift by pulleys for weighing. The process is labor intensive and requires tranquilizing the animal, always a risky business. Using LIDAR only takes a few seconds to scan a bear's bulk as they stand almost motionless at the falls waiting to catch a spawning salmon in their jaws. Their wet fur provides a good backboard for light waves to bounce off. The system software does the rest. There is still a bit of guesswork going on since a density measurement is needed to covert volume measurements into mass measurements. Cusack uses a rough estimate of bear density, figuring bears are 40% fat and 60 water. Last year Bear 474 won the competition [see chart]. Cusack confirmed that bear was the fatest with his measurement of 22.6 cubic feet of volume, equivalent to 1416 lbs.
This year the winner is #480 Otis who was a runner up last year [see chart], but also a three time champion, winning in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Nearly 800,000 votes were cast before Otis was crowned fattest bear. Katmai bears can pack on four pounds a day as they feast on one of the largest sockeye slamon runs in the world.
Green Kudos to Otis!
