This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 32 Chunk at Katmai National Park in Alaska on Sept. 19, 2024. (E. Johnston/National Park Service via AP)

Associated Press

In an upset for the ages, Fat Bear Week’s 2025 champion is 32 Chunk, who denied a potential “three-peat” by his longtime rival, 128 Grazer.

Fat Bear Week celebrates the triumphs and tribulations of some of the world’s largest bears, who live in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. Each spring, the brown bears emerge from winter hibernation somewhat scrawny and ready to feast. They have to spend the warmer weather eating a year’s worth of food in less than six months to survive hibernation, when they lose up to a third of their body weight. So being a fat bear means being a successful bear.

Fat bear fanatics can watch the bruins bulk up by fishing for sockeye salmon courtesy of eight free “bear cams” in the Brooks River region of Katmai National Park. Sometimes the cameras capture truly wild drama — like last summer, when Chunk killed Grazer’s cub, dubbed Smalls.

Chunk became a villain in the eyes of many Fat Bear Week voters, and Grazer pulled off a second victory over him in 2024. But the paunchy pugilist helped sway public opinion this season when he reappeared post-hibernation with a broken jaw and injured paw. Despite his injuries, he managed to bulk up and now weighs around 1,200 pounds. There’s nothing boring about this boar!

How Chunk Became Fat Bear Week Champ

Chunk faced hefty competition this year. In the final bracket, he faced beloved behemoth 856, one of the oldest bears on the river. (Katmai National Park doesn’t name bears but assigns them a number after a bear monitor observes them in the Brooks River region for a third time.)

Considered an old timer since he’s over 20 years old, 856 — who some fans prefer unnamed, while others are pulling for nicknames like Tank or the Fluffinator — is a beloved bear not just for his grizzled girth, but the way he mourned his “wife,” 402, after she was killed by another bear last year — visiting her body and the place she was killed, pacing and clearly missing his mate.

But this was destined to be Chunk’s year. The final day of voting totaled 96,350 votes for Chunk and 63,725 votes for 856 at FatBearWeek.org.

In earlier brackets, Chunk beat out 602, affectionately nicknamed the “Flotato” for the charming way he floats on his back — sometimes with a half-eaten salmon over his eyes like an eye pillow. Chunk’s abdominal dominion also bested 901, a chonky female who gained so much weight this summer that park rangers hope she will be mothering cubs next season.

How To Keep Celebrating Fat Bear Week

Fans of Fat Bear Week can continue to celebrate these fabulous fatties through October 4 by donating to the nonprofit Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund, named in honor of a beloved bear and four-time Fat Bear Week champ who didn’t appear this year.

All donations to the Otis Fund will be matched up to $350,000 by Explore.org, which operates the free “bear cams” (watched by over 11 million people last year) and partners with Katmai National Park and the Katmai Conservancy to offer Fat Bear Week fun each year. The donations help support the park, the bears and the salmon.

Through October 3, Fat Bear Week enthusiasts can submit “creative expressions” inspired by what they’ve seen on bear cams to the Bear Cam Fan Art Contest in the categories of Wildlife, Habitat and Public Lands/Water. Artwork can include poems, drawings, paintings, knitting and woodworking.

The winner will be announced on Oct. 4 when Fat Bear Week festivities finally conclude during a “Brown Bear Celebration and Fundraiser” at 4 p.m. Eastern on the Brooks Live channel of Explore.org.

In the meantime, cheers to Champion Chunk!