Fat Bear Week bracket released late due to deadly bear fight [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A female brown bear that died in a tussle with a male brown bear in the Brooks River in Katmai National Park prompted the National Park & Preserve to postpone the bracket reveal until Tuesday afternoon.

Content warning: The attached video may be disturbing for some.

The bracket — which was initially planned to be unveiled Monday — was released Tuesday afternoon with 12 bears selected to be voted on in a head-to-head matchup that will decide the burliest bruin.

“National parks like Katmai protect not only the wonders of nature, but also the harsh realities,” wrote Matt Johnson, who is with NPS. “Each bear seen on the webcams is competing with others to survive.”

Sarah Bruce, who works at Katmai, said Tuesday that park officials were alerted to the bear fight Monday morning by viewers of the popular online livestream cameras that dot the area.

“An older adult male was attacking …