Alaska Fat Bear Week plunged into chaos after livestream cameras were killed

This year's competition includes 12 bears who have gained a lot of weight throughout the summer.

Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds in mid-summer. When they are ready to hibernate after feeding on migrating and spawning salmon – each eats up to 30 fish per day – large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds. Females are about a third smaller.

Bear 909 Jr, who won the Fat Bear Junior competition for the second time last week, will face Bear 519, a young female, in the first round in a public vote. The winner will face defending champion Grazer, who is considered one of the most impressive bears on the river.

In another first-round game of the popularity contest, Bear 903, an 8-year-old male who was nicknamed Gully after developing a fondness for seagulls, faces off against Bear 909, Bear 909 Jr.'s mother. The winner receives a two-time winner, a bear that was so large that it was given the number of the equally massive Bear 747 aircraft.

In the other half of the tournament, the first round features Bear 856, an older male and one of the most recognizable bears on the river due to his large body, challenging a newcomer, Bear 504, a mother bear raising her second known litter. The winner will face perhaps the river's largest bear, 32 Chunk, a 20-year-old man who once devoured 42 salmon in 10 hours. It is estimated to weigh more than 1,200 pounds.

The final game of the first round pits Bear 151, a once playful young bear nicknamed Walker who is now showing more dominance, against Bear 901, a solo female who has returned to the river after his first litter did not survive. The winner faces bear 164, nicknamed Bucky Dent because of an indentation in his forehead.

Voting in this year's tournament round is possible until October 8th.

Last year more than 1.3 million votes were cast.