From a dozen to just one: Scarred “32 Chunk” was crowned the fat bear champion of Alaska’s Brooks River, organizers announced Tuesday.
The annual competition drew in tens of thousands of votes and lasted a week.
Chunk outperformed his bear competitor “856” by securing 96,350 votes compared to 63,725, as reported by the organization overseeing the livestream cameras at Katmai National Park and Preserve.
“Chunk the Hunk. The Chunkster. 32 Chunk,” the organization, Explore, posted on X. “All hail the new king of Brooks River.”
Fat Bear Week, a competition that began in 2014, opened for voting on Sept. 23 with 12 contenders.
The bears are in the midst of an intense feeding period, focusing on salmon to pack on pounds before hibernation. They sometimes consume only the skin, brains, and eggs to maximize their calorie intake.
Voters were instructed to choose “the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears.”
Chunk is an exceptionally large male bear, tipping the scales at approximately 1,200 pounds. He’s noted for a noticeable scar and a broken jaw, which is healing, though it’s unlikely to fully recover, based on information from Explore’s website.
“The timing of the jaw injury, which happened during the brown bear mating season, and its characteristics, highly indicate Chunk was wounded in an altercation with another bear,” the organization explained.
Situated on the Alaska Peninsula southwest of Anchorage, Katmai National Park and Preserve is famed for its population of brown bears. Brooks Camp, located at the Brooks River’s mouth, invites visitors annually to observe these majestic creatures.
Throughout the summer, salmon journey upstream on the Brooks River to spawn, and the bears eagerly await them. According to the park’s website, by September, the weakened and dying fish become a food source once more for the bears.
Katmai’s bears usually go to their dens to hibernate in October and November, according to the park.
