Alaska’s Katmai National Park announced a brown bear dubbed 32 Chunk has claimed his first-ever Fat Bear Week championship title.
The park said the bounteous bear bested a field of competitors including two-time champion 128 Grazer and this year’s runner-up, Bear 856, in a bracket-style online vote.
Chunk earned 96,350 votes in the contest, compared to 856’s 63,725 votes.
More than 1.5 million votes were cast in this year’s Fat Bear Week, a new record for the 20-year-old event.
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Chunk has been a fan favorite in the competition for years, but 2025 marked his first time taking the title. He managed to pack on the pounds in late summer despite incurring a broken jaw in June from an apparent confrontation with another male bear.
Fat Bear Week aims to promote conservation and celebrate Katmai National Park’s wildlife and ecosystem.
“The astonishing salmon runs in Katmai are essential to the survival of the park’s ecosystem and brown bears,” Katmai Park Superintendent Mark Sturm said in a news release. “Fat Bear Week enables people from around the world to actively engage in learning about bears while cheering for their favorite competitor.”
