A photographer in Alaska has recently captured images of what could be the ‘fattest polar bear alive’.
The bear, affectionately named ‘Fat Albert’ by locals, is thought to weigh a whole 200 kilograms heavier than he should be.
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The average polar bear should weigh around 450kg (1000lbs), though Fat Albert weighs a whopping 679kg (1500lbs).
Media Drum WorldLocals in Katovik, Alaska, where Albert lives, transport large amounts of ‘left over’ whale blubber for the bears as a way of ‘showing respect’ to the animals. And it most definitely seems as if the gargantuan Albert has tucked in to more than his fair share.
Professional photographer Edward Boudreau, who captured the images of Fat Albert, said:
The villagers had just harvested a whale and what they do is cut a large portion of meat and blubber then haul it about four miles out of town for the bears to find.
They do this for two reasons. First: it keeps the bears from coming to the harvest and disrupting the process, you wouldn’t want twenty or so full-size Polar Bears descending towards you in a hurry and hungry.
The second reason is the villagers are paying homage to the bear, showing them the respect they deserve as they have traditionally for thousands of years.
If the village fails to harvest a whale then the bears would need to wait until the sea freezes over so they can hunt the seals.
A win/win situation, really.
While Fat Albert is pretty damn large, he’s not actually a world-record holder. The largest polar bear in history tipped the scales at whopping 1,001kg (2,209lbs) in 1960.
SOURCE: WORLD MEDIA DRUM