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Dawn is champion after public voting of eight yellow-bellied marmots as they fattened up for long winter ahead
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US news — Coral Murphy Marcos
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 August and 29 August.
“It’s been an amazing week and all of the competitors are winners in our hearts,” reads a post by the organizers. “Thank you to all those who voted.”
The competition comes as researchers behind the marmot study started in 1962 have found themselves fighting to keep the project alive amid federal science funding cuts.
Scientists made international headlines earlier this month when they launched an OnlyFans account , called OnlyMarms, to raise money for the marmot project based in Colorado. The account, despite its platform, featured videos and photos of marmots scurrying across rocky landscapes and disappearing into their burrows.
The fundraising effort has brought in more than $100,000 through a combination of OnlyFans subscriptions, outside donations and a marmot-themed cryptocurrency created by online supporters.
Summer seemed like the perfect season to launch Fat Marmot Week, as the yellow-bellied marmots roughly double their body weight during this time of year before spending about five months hibernating underground.
“The largest of the true hibernators, marmots bulk up all summer to survive the winter,” reads the competition’s website .
The marmots, one of the 15 recognized species of marmot in the northern hemisphere, feed on grasses and wildflowers, and their ability to put on enough weight can mean the difference between surviving the winter and dying before spring.
Marmots can lose up to half their body weight during hibernation, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Those that have not stored enough fat or whose burrows are too shallow to protect them from freezing temperatures may not survive to emerge in the spring.
For voters who rooted for other marmots in this year’s competition, organizers have promised another chance to vote during Fat Marmot Week 2027.
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.
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Source: theguardian.com · Coral Murphy Marcos. Published 30 Aug 2026, 08:08 pm.
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