It was a grudge match for the ages. Two heavyweight brown bears from Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska were left standing at the end of Fat Bear Week. Dominant male 32 Chunk took on mama bear 128 Grazer in a head-to-head vote with a tragic backstory. Earlier this year, Chunk injured one of Grazer’s cubs. The cub died. It’s a small comfort, but Grazer handily beat Chunk in the Fat Bear Week finals. Grazer is the first “working mom” to win the championship.
Fat Bear Week is a tournament that crowns the chubbiest bear on the Brooks River in the park. These meaty mammals have been gorging on salmon and packing on the pounds before heading in for their winter snoozes. Katmai National Park partners with nature livestreamer Explore.org for the popular competition.
The 2024 finals was a rematch of the 2023 finals. Chunk’s size and strength mean other bears avoid him and he gets access to the best fishing spots on the river. Park rangers can’t just go out and weigh the bears, but Chunk is estimated to tip the scales at over 1,200 pounds.
Grazer is almost 20 years old and has been raising her third litter. “Her fearless nature is respected by other bears who often choose to give her space instead of risking a confrontation,” Explore.org said. “This elevates Grazer’s rank in the bear hierarchy above almost all bears except for the largest males.”
Two of Grazer’s young cubs followed her into the Brooks River in July and were swept over a waterfall. One survived. The other was washed into the path of Chunk. Grazer attempted to defend her cubs, but Chunk attacked the youngster and the cub later died from the injuries. Chunk’s tough-guy reputation may have cost him some votes. “Just read Chunk is a jerk. Grazer all the way!” wrote one voter on X.
Explore.org shared videos of the chonky competitors during the week. “Chunk will cowboy-walk away from any landslide initiated by another bear’s badonkadonk,” it tweeted along with a video of Chunk looking like he just got off a horse.
Fat Bear Week is a celebration and a time of fun for fans of bulging bears, but it comes with reminders of how tough life in the wild can be. Fat Bear Week got off to a rocky start this year when the team delayed the bracket reveal due to a livestreamed fight between two bears in the river. An adult male killed an adult female. Katmai and Explore.org specialists addressed the fight, calling it unusual but not unheard of. Otherwise, voting has gone as planned.
Thousands of bear fans voted in the final round. The tally was 30,468 votes for Chunk and 71,248 votes for Grazer. It can be tough for active mothers to put on as much poundage as male bears or bachelorettes with no cubs in tow. That makes Grazer’s rise to two-time champion all the sweeter. Every bear that bulks up enough to survive the harsh winter is a winner, but there can be only one Fat Bear Week champion. Queen Grazer earned her crown the right way: one salmon at a time.
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