The beefy beauty 128 Grazer brought home the gold medal in this year’s Fat Bear Week competition, wresting the title from last year’s winner the Bear 747.
The annual contest in Alaska’s Katmai National Park pitted the heaviest bears against each other to see who could put on the most weight before hibernation.
Fat Bear Week is a bracket-style contest where the public can vote for their favorite bear. This year’s champion, the 128 Grazer, dwarfed the competition by 108,321 votes.
Grazer is a protective mother bear with a long straight muzzle and brown ears. In late summer and fall, its coat turns a light brown and often becomes one of the thickest bears in the Brooks River.
This year’s runner-up was Chuck, 32, a fat brown bear with a distinctive muzzle scar, who received 23,134 votes.
Fat Bear Week Winner 128 Grazer (pictured) is a large adult female with a long straight muzzle and blonde ears
Grazer is a wild mother bear who has successfully raised two cubs and will attack much larger males to protect them
The burly mama bear was first introduced to the Brooks River as a cub in 2005. Since then she has built a reputation as one of the best anglers on the water.
She has successfully raised two cubs and is often caught on camera attacking larger bears to ensure the safety of her cubs.
“Grazer’s combination of skill and toughness make him one of the Brooks River’s most fearsome, successful and adaptable bears,” said. Explore.org.
Let’s take a look at the 2023 finalist:
Runner-up 32 Chunk
This year’s runner-up 32 Chunk is described as a ‘large adult male with closely set eyes, a prominent brow ridge and a distinct scar on his muzzle.’
He has a quirky personality and would sometimes play with other bears rather than fish. He has grown to be more confident and has used his size to his advantage
Chunk is described as a “large adult male with narrowly set eyes, a prominent brow ridge and a distinct muzzle scar”.
First identified in 2007 at the age of 2.5 years, he appeared with a strange personality. He played with the other bears and waited to forage for salmon instead of challenging the other males.
In 2023, Chunk packed on the pounds and became one of the most dominant men on the river. Even the 2022 fat bear week champion, Bear 747, pushed him fishing spots.
“Chunk has gained the confidence and ability to take advantage of opportunities not available to most other bears,” Explore.org said.
“His low hanging belly and ample rear bear the fruit of his summer success.”
435 Holly
435 Holly Bear is said to resemble “the shape and color of a lightly roasted marshmallow” whose life has been colored by “hardships, surprises and success.”
Holly was also the 2019 Lucky Bear Week Champion. She fostered a one-year-old injured cub in 2007 and adopted a single one-year-old cub into her family in 2014
Holly is a large adult female, said to resemble the shape and color of a ‘lightly tanned elk’, beaten by Grazer in the semi-finals.
She previously won Fat Bear week in 2019 and has lived a life of hardships, surprises and successes.
While she is currently single, she has raised several successful puppies and even adopted two one-year-old puppies into her family.
“Holly has shown that experience and adaptability lead to longevity and success for brown bears,” Explore.org said.
Bear 901
Bear 901 is a medium-sized adult female with ‘triangle ears with blonde lips’. She was runner-up in the 2022 Lucky Bear Week
In the summer she returned to Brooks Falls with three cubs, but in mid-September one of them disappeared.
901 is a mid-adult female brown bear, first identified as a 2.5-year-old in 2018, who lost to Chunk in the semi-finals.
This summer has not been easy for him. She returned to the Brooks River with three spring cubs, but in mid-September one of them disappeared.
Explore.org said that raising puppies is difficult for first-time mothers, and she expressed great caution during the summer.
“She used the river mouth area where fewer bears are present more often instead of making frequent trips to Brooks Falls, likely to provide her cubs with more safety.”
Bear 747
2022 Champion Bear 747 is a large adult male who often has scars and scars on his face and neck
At over 20 years old, he has faced competition from younger bears, but remains an elite angler.
The 2022 champion, Bear 747, is a large adult male with a blocked muzzle and blocked ears, who lost to Grazer in the quarterfinals.
First identified in 2004 as a tiny little bear, it has grown to become a giant in the river, once estimated to weigh 1,400 pounds.
Explore.org said: “He is a skilled and efficient angler who is most often found fishing in the Jacuzzi or near the remote Brooks Falls Pool.”
Now over 20 years old, his fishing skills still remain elite, but he faced competition from a younger generation.
806 Spring Cub
806 Spring Cub (pictured) is a first-year cub with long, shaggy brown fur
On several occasions he has drifted away from his mother, but the two have always been reunited and this has rewarded his growth.
This first-year male cub with long, shaggy brown fur lost to Chunk in the quarterfinals.
While many mothers avoid fishing near Brooks Falls, 806 did not, and it paid off for her spring cub.
Although on several occasions he drifted away from his mother, the two were always able to reunite.
In July, his mother fell while catching a fish, which left the cub alone. While she was gone, an adult male tried to attack her.
However, she quickly returned and was able to protect him.
“His story shows the danger and reward bears find at Brooks Falls,” said Explore.org.
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