'Thicc boi': Colorado Parks and Wildlife department pokes fun at fat bear caught on camera
He’s furry, he’s “thicc,” and he’s making headlines for his enormous size after a video featuring his plump physique made its rounds online.
He’s a Colorado black bear unofficially nicknamed “Durango Tubby” and social media users have been having a blast gawking at his size after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region shared footage of him online this month.
“We thought we had seen really fat Durango bears before,” the department posted on X Friday. “This one takes the cake. It also probably ate the cake. Every cake.”
The original video was viewed nearly 548,000 times on X and was favorited about 5,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon.
The footage shows the bear looking around and later, sniffing the ground, checking out the area.
Watch video of fat Colorado bear nicknamed 'Durango Tubby'
Bear was captured on trail cameras used to collect data
The bear has been spotted multiple times in October in Durango, said John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Southwest Region Public Information Officer.
The footage was captured on trail cameras on one of the agency's properties. The cameras take images and videos when they detect motion and help the agency collect data.
He's not sure how old the bear is since researchers use teeth to accurately determine the age of bears and the agency has had no reason to tranquilize and handle the one in the footage.
Social media weighs in on fat bear capturing hearts online
“Genuinely need to know how much more this black bear thinks he needs to eat before finding a den this year,” the CPW Southwest Region joked.
The agency also shared a clip of the bear munching on something and called him a “thicc boi.”
The agency retweeted some posts from community members who also thought they saw the same bear in their yards.
Calling him “Durango Tubby,” X user @SOULTSIE shared Ring security camera footage of what appears to be the same bear walking through their yard.
Fat Bear Week 2024: Mama bear Grazer once again defeats Chunk, who killed her cub, in 2024 Fat Bear Week
Durango Tubby used to raise awareness about bears
Another X user joked that the bear deserves his own version of Fat Bear Week, referring to the annual competition for brown bears at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska.
Each year, participants vote for the bear they believe “best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears.” The bears are matched up and whichever bear gets the most votes moves on to the next round.
At the end of the competition, one bear is crowned Fat Bear Week champion. This year’s champion was Bear 128 Grazer, a large adult female who lost one of her cubs in July 2024. She beat the same bear who killed her cub.
Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Southwest Region Public Information Officer, said the department shared the footage of the Durango bear to "boost awareness of bear activity and how the public can better learn to live with bears."
He added that bears transform quite a bit this time of year as they undergo "hyperphagia," a process where they consume as many as 20,000 calories a day before denning season so they can survive the winter.
"This bear has obviously taken hyperphagia very seriously this year," Livingston said.
He said the department also shared the footage of the bear because people like seeing wildlife.
"Sometimes it's just nice to share something people take joy in," he said. "In a world where the public disagrees on so much, it seems we all can find common ground in our love for a good, fat bear."
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fat Colorado bear Durango Tubby is captured on trail cameras: Watch
