It's the Fat Bear Week finals. Will this be the year 32 Chunk finally wins? Eve Chen, USA TODAY September 30, 2025 at 9:52 AM 0 Three times could be the charm for a burly brown bear who's once again vying for Fat Bear Week champion.
- - It's the Fat Bear Week finals. Will this be the year 32 Chunk finally wins?
Eve Chen, USA TODAY September 30, 2025 at 9:52 AM
0
Three times could be the charm for a burly brown bear who's once again vying for Fat Bear Week champion.
Bear 32 Chunk has lost the title to bear 128 Grazer two years in a row.
However this year, he's facing a new challenger: bear 856, who beat Grazer in this year's semifinals.
It's up to the public to decide who will win the March Madness-style bracket polls, starring some of biggest bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Here's what to know about the two finalists competing on Sept. 30.
Bear 32 Chunk
Bear 32 Chunk was a Fat Bear Week finalist in both 2023 and 2024.
Fat Bear Week's website describes Chunk as one of the largest bears along the Brooks River. That's where Katmai's famous bears feast on salmon all summer long.
His features include narrow-set eyes, a strong brow ridge, "a distinctive scar across his muzzle and a broken, yet healing jaw." It's believed he may have permanently injured his jaw in a fight with another bear this past mating season.
Initially, there were concerns about Chunk being able to maintain dominance along the river and pack on enough pounds to survive the upcoming winter, but the event's website says, "Chunk used his determination and adaptability to persevere through injury."
Bear 856
Bear 856 is one of the largest bears in the river.
Bear 856 is another massive adult male, "with an assertive disposition equal to his size," according to Fat Bear Week's website.
For more than a decade, he was "the river's most consistently dominant bear." However, now that he's in his mid-20s, bear 856 picks his battles carefully, often yielding to larger bears.
The website says he also patiently fishes in less productive areas of the river, and "when fishing, he frequently licks his lips, which is a behavioral characteristic expressed by few bears at Brooks River."
Survival of the fattest: It's not just fun and games for the bears of Katmai National Park
Fat Bear Week voting
Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, whose cub was killed by her opponent in July, was crowned the 2024 champion of the annual park contest that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, the National Park Service reported. Here she is pictured on Sept. 12, 2024.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/gJXIzkx class=caas-img data-headline="See the winners of Fat Bear Week ahead of winter hibernation" data-caption="
Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, whose cub was killed by her opponent in July, was crowned the 2024 champion of the annual park contest that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, the National Park Service reported. Here she is pictured on Sept. 12, 2024.
">Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, whose cub was killed by her opponent in July, was crowned the 2024 champion of the annual park contest that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, the National Park Service reported. Here she is pictured on Sept. 12, 2024.
" src=https://ift.tt/gJXIzkx class=caas-img>Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2023. Hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, according to the National Park Service. The champion is decided by votes for the bear believed to "best exemplify fatness and success in brown bears," officials wrote on the contest website.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/UPZOfIA class=caas-img data-headline="See the winners of Fat Bear Week ahead of winter hibernation" data-caption="
Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2023. Hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, according to the National Park Service. The champion is decided by votes for the bear believed to "best exemplify fatness and success in brown bears," officials wrote on the contest website.
">Brown bear 128, known as Grazer, was voted Fat Bear Week champion in 2023. Hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that "celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, according to the National Park Service. The champion is decided by votes for the bear believed to "best exemplify fatness and success in brown bears," officials wrote on the contest website.
" src=https://ift.tt/UPZOfIA class=caas-img>
1 / 8See the winners of Fat Bear Week ahead of winter hibernation128 Grazer pictured on July 10, 2024, before the Fat Bear Week contest. The contest's champion is decided by votes for the bear believed to "best exemplify fatness and success in brown bears" ahead of winter when they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring, officials wrote on the contest website.
Who will win?
In reality, bear 32 Chunk, bear 856 and all of this year's competitors are already winners for bulking up for winter.
But for bragging rights, voting for Fat Bear Week finals opens at noon ET on Sept. 30 on the event's website.
The poll closes at 9 p.m. the same day.
(This story has been to correct a typo.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See the hulking Fat Bear Week 2025 finalists
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