‘Humongous’ marmot crowned winner in inaugural Fat Marmot Week contest

Dawn is champion after public voting of eight yellow-bellied marmots as they fattened up for long winter ahead A marmot contest started by researchers who turned to OnlyFans to help save a decades-long research project has chosen its champion in its inaugural Fat Marmot Week. Dawn was crowned the winner of Fat Marmot Week 2026 after securing back-to-back victories in both the mass-gain and popular-vote competitions, according to the organizers of the marmot project at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Julien Martin, professor of evolutionary ecology at the University of Ottawa and co-leader of the marmot project, said that Dawn, the six-year-old marmot, ended up weighing about 6kg (13.2lb). “That’s one of the heaviest animals we’ve ever measured,” Martin said. “Six kilos is really humongous for that species.” More than 23,000 votes were cast during the Marmot Project’s first-ever marmot tournament, a competition inspired by Alaska’s popular Fat Bear Week. Dawn was crowned the contest’s champion after a week of public voting that lined up eight yellow-bellied marmots as they fattened up for the long winter ahead. Votes were cast between 24 and 29 August. â€