This year’s Fat Bear Week concluded Tuesday, ending the week-long competition to determine the chunkiest bear in Alaska.
From within a field of 12 bears, the aptly named Chunk — a 1,200-pound grizzly — overcame a potentially life-threatening broken jaw to become this year’s winner.
“Fat Bear Week 2025 wrapped with a plump-tastic finale as the junk in the trunk of 32 Chunk proved too much for Bear 856,” the National Park Service posted on Instagram.
“Chunk may have waddled off with this year’s title, but in the end, every bear is a winner.”
Bear bracket challenge
Beginning as a seemingly fun way to celebrate the wildlife of Katmai National Park and Preserve, the contest is now in its 11th year. The park is home to Brooks Falls, where the bears congregate to catch migrating salmon leaping up a waterfall as they make their way back to their breeding grounds.
It’s an ideal situation for Alaskan bears to gain weight in anticipation of winter hibernating, and also a fun place to tune into the park’s “bear cam,” which was the original inspiration for the contest.
The stark contrast in a viewer’s before-and-after pictures of a bear inspired the small team of rangers at the remote park to put together a March Madness-style bracket to crown the fattest one. They invited anyone with an internet connection to participate in the joy of looking at some of the plumpest bears on Earth.
A bear called Grazer won the competition the previous two years. It was bear 856, the runner-up, who knocked Grazer out of the competition this week. That victory, however, wasn’t enough for that bruiser to defeat Chunk in the finals.
On Tuesday, Chunk handily overcame 856, getting 96,350 votes to his competitor’s 63,725.
This year also marked the largest level of engagement yet, with 1.6 million votes cast during the contest.
A fat bear is a healthy bear
Sarah Bruce, a Katmai park ranger, said competition organizers are always looking to include bears with a great story, including a bear overcoming an injury such as Chunk.
In sharing those stories, the park is also able to invite more people than could ever visit the Alaskan national park and teach them about another of the country’s wild and beautiful ecosystems.
“In addition to all of the joy, Fat Bear Week itself brings a very remote, difficult-to-get-to park and makes it very accessible for people to engage with,” Bruce said.
“Folks from all over the world can connect with Katmai National Park … parks are for the American people. So we want to share that with as many people as we can. They’re public places.”
And the bears are pretty cute, too.
“Thanks to everyone across the globe for joining the furry, fish-fueled party! Special thanks to the salmon,” according to the park service Instagram post.
“As another #FatBearWeek concludes, we hope you soaked up some bear-y cool facts about these beefy bruins, learned more about the important Katmai ecosystem … and above all, remembering that a fat bear is a healthy bear.”