Fat Bear Week, an event that is held every year in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve to decide who the cutest and fattest bear is before they go into hibernation, kicked off its voting on Oct. 2.
The event is a single-elimination tournament where the highest-voted bear gets to advance to the next round, according to Fat Bear Week’s website. This year, 12 bears competed against each other to be crowned the winner of Fat Bear Week.
Notable matchups included 128 Grazer vs. 909Jr. on Oct. 4. Grazer — a mama bear and fan favorite — dominated this race with 73,018 votes, compared to 909Jr.’s 16,688. Grazer rode her dominant performance all the way to the championship, as she earned herself a spot.
Another notable matchup was 32 Chunk vs. 151 Walker on Oct. 7. This was the matchup to determine who would go to the championship on the other side of the bracket. Chunk had a bit of swagger and momentum coming into the match, which caught voters’ eyes. He was riding high, as he easily showed who the fatter bear was, earning 52,558 votes to advance — more than twice as many votes as Walker in that round.
With all that, the championship was set. Grazer was looking for a repeat against Chunk, the new bear on the block. Chunk killed Grazer’s cub earlier this year, according to Alaska Public Media. A lot was riding on the vote: a cold-blooded killer vs. a mama trying to reclaim her title.
There were a lot of eyes on the competition, and on Oct. 8, the results were in. Chunk had amassed a solid 30,468 votes, but Grazer was able to make those look like amateur numbers. She received 71,248 votes, claiming the title of Fat Bear Week champion for the second year in a row.
It was clear that Chunk was bigger, but because of the controversy around the bear, Grazer was able to take the win — courtesy of her fans. In a post on X, live nature network explore.org described Grazer as the “first working mom to ever be crowned champion.”
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
