In the highly anticipated annual Fat Bear Week competition, one bear has come out on top: mama bear Grazer.
Over a million people voted in this year’s competition, held from Oct. 2 to Oct. 8, which pits the brown bears that gather at Brooks River in Alaska’s Katmai National Park against each other in race to determine which bear “best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears.”
The competition helps increase public awareness of brown bears and the value they bring to their habitats.
The public votes in bracket-style matchups each day of the competition until they’ve whittled the selections down to two bears. As was the case last year, the final two bears were Grazer and Chunk, known as “the most dominant bear on the river,” per explore.org. The runner-up, it was noted on the site, has not been successfully challenged for a fishing spot yet.
Grazer, a large adult female introduced to Brooks River in 2005, beat Chunk in a landslide, with 71,248 points to the latter’s 30,468 points. Besides facing off last year, the two bears’ have history. Earlier this year, Chunk killed one of Grazer’s cubs when it and another cub fell over a waterfall which washed them in the male bear’s direction. The other cub survived the attack. The incident was captured by park cameras nearby.
Perhaps Grazer’s win is some cosmic act of revenge for her cub’s murder ...
Then, in a true underdog story, Grazer’s cub that survived the fall went on to win Fat Bear Junior just last month.
Grazer’s win was celebrated by her fans on the site’s comment board. One fan wrote in, “Yes Grazer deserved it! Even though Chunk was bigger, Grazer still gained more weight, and they are a female.”
Another said, “No doubt Chunk weighs more, but Grazer carries her weight much more elegantly. And she’s certainly no slouch in the mass department. Plus she’s super cute and has fuzzy ears! Grazer for the win, 2023-2024!”