Fans of a fat bear wildlife camera saved a distressed hiker stranded in Alaska

• A hiker was lost in Katmai National Park due to poor visibility and bad weather.
• The stranded man came across a wildlife camera and signaled desperately for help. 
• Fans watching the camera to catch a glimpse of fat bears alerted authorities and the man was rescued.

A hiker lost in the Alaskan wilderness has fat bears to thank for his rescue.

The man got lost while hiking in Katmai National Park due to poor visibility and bad weather conditions. With no cell signal and changing weather on the trail, he was stuck in a situation mountain hikers recognize as dangerous whether they're taking on Everest or the Dumpling Mountain overlook trail described by Katmai National Park Service as "moderately strenuous."

When the hiker came across a wildlife camera, he signaled for help, giving the camera a thumbs down and mouthing the words "help me" and "lost," BBC reported.

Thankfully, the camera he came across was one seeing an increase in live viewership ahead of the national park's annual Fat Bear Week, preparations for which begin ramping up at the end of September. The fat bear competition encourages fans of wildlife to try to identify the largest bear spotted on wildlife cameras as the creatures bulk up ahead of their winter hibernation, ultimately crowning one fan-favorite bear fattest of them all. 

Fans of Fat Bear Week who were watching the wildlife camera's livestream alerted authorities shortly after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, September 5, that they'd seen the stranded hiker signing for help. Within four hours of being spotted, according to BBC, Katmai park rangers launched a search, found the man unharmed, and brought him back to safety.

Explore.org, the organization that operates the cameras, posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, praising the bear cam fans and Katmai park rangers, saying: "Bear Cam saves a hiker's life!"

"That was a first for the bear cams for sure," Mike Fitz, a naturalist with Explore.org and creator of Fat Bear Week, told The Washington Post, adding that there was only about 50 feet of visibility that day due to the weather, and thanking fan cam watchers for aiding in the man's rescue.

Representatives for Explore.org and Katmai National Park did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Through the livestream, anxious viewers who had alerted authorities of the man's plight were able to watch as rangers located and rescued the man, bringing him back to safety, The Post reported. 

"Aaaand I'm crying because I'm so relieved. I first noticed that hiker about 3.5 hrs ago," one commenter posted in the livestream chat, per The Post. "Those rangers made it up there fast!"