JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Murder in the Wilderness…
Oct 2, 2024, 2:30 PM | Updated: 5:14 pm
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — Maybe you’ve heard of the Fat Bear Week bracket competition. Where the burly bruins of the Alaskan wilderness, are pitted against each other in a popular vote on the web to name the Fat Bear of the Year.
This is the time of year bears plump up and get right to hibernate, getting big by gorging on slithering fish racing along the pristine streams of Katmai National Park in Alaska. Here, the bears are tagged, they’re given numbers and you get to vote for the Fat Bear of the Year.
Except Monday, the nonprofit running Fat Bear Week postponed the first round — because of a murder.
These are not the Berenstain Bears. Live on a webcam, two bears started fighting. A male and a female. They tore at each other for an hour with Explore.Org providing somber play-by-play.
Eventually, the male tagged as #469 beat and drowned #402, a previous contestant. Death in the wilderness, and a shock to nature lovers who watch the webcams thinking these glorious predators are oversized Winnie the Poohs.
Except, they’re bears. Apex predators. Cute to watch on a webcam because we anthropomorphize animals — make believe they’re like humans. But they’re not.
And there are no consequences. We act like they’re humans. They’re each given a number like a prison inmate, but no jail because the wild is supposed to be wild.
So after a day-long pause, to the 10 million of you participating, Fat Bear Week began last night. You can vote right now, but the killer #469, alias Patches, will not be in the competition.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
