Andrea Diaz
Fat Bear Week 2023 kicks off: Time to pick your chunky champion
Fans can now vote for their favorite hefty bear in the annual Katmai National Park & Preserve contest celebrating Alaska's brown bears.
LEARN MOREPosted: 3:18 p.m. EDT Oct 11, 2023
A Momma Bear extraordinaire who's not just a regular mom but a supermom has been crowned the queen of Fat Bear Week 2023.
No male bear dares to challenge her rightful title! She is bear 128 Grazer, a fierce single mom with two litters of adorable cubs under her belt. She triumphed over 11 other bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve's yearly contest to see who can pack on the most pounds before hibernation.
In a legendary showdown, Grazer sent her rival, Chunk (the salmon aficionado who was ranked Brooks River’s “largest and most dominant” male earlier this year), flying out of the fish-filled waters with a mighty splash! Grazer, the reigning queen, secured a whopping 108,321 votes, while Chunk trailed way behind with 23,134 votes, according to the park's voting page Explore.org.
"The bear with the biggest beardonkadonk joins the #FatBearWeek Hall of Chompions. Let’s crown our Queen that’s thicker than a bowl of oatmeal, 128 Grazer! Long live the Queen!," Katmai National Park & Preserve announced on Facebook.
Last year’s champ, 747 Bear Force One, tipped the scales at around 1,400 lbs. But as for Grazer's weight, the park is keeping it hush-hush, and we assume it’s to respect her privacy.
But these scale numbers do not matter. Since making her debut at Brooks River as a young cub in 2005, this big, blond-eared bear has grown up, and so have her cubs. Known for her iconic chubbiness and courage, she fearlessly defended her young against bears twice her size. In 2023, her legend lives on, and she's still the ruler of the park.
The park says this year they had a "record-shattering" number of votes totaling 1,382,783.
