New Champion, who dis??? A historic night for three-time runner up, first-time Fat Bear Week champion, 32 Chunk! He defeated enormous elder 856 in the finals on Tuesday, ousting two-time title holder 128 Grazer.
32 Chunk started the season strong but had a major setback when he showed up during mating season with a broken jaw. Lucky for him, a historic salmon run spelled a rags to fishes story for this busted up behemoth, and he managed to side-mouth slow-chew his way through summer. By the time Fat Beat Week rolled around, 32 Chunk had more than qualified in size, hustle and gains.
He took the week one match at a time, but his bad boy history threatened to weigh him down. Could he make a comeback from the darkness of his past? Then, the bracket offered an unseen advantage: a final match against the only bear on the bracket with a rap sheet longer than his, 856.
Oooh, the plot thickened! Ultimately, 32 Chunk’s grit and determination tipped the scale. We celebrate this impressive, massive, emphatically fat bear and all his resilience. Congratulations Chunk the Hunk!
This was Fat Bear Week’s biggest year ever. Online, over 1.5 million votes streamed in from around the world. Offline, we saw some of the fattest fat bears to date, thanks to their top sponsor — salmon. Shout out to the ecosystem for being so dang epic, and big ups to all who preserve it.
If you want to support Katmai Conservancy’s research, education and outreach, I encourage you to donate to their Otis Fund (named for beloved bear 480 Otis). This is their biggest fundraiser of the year and explore.org will match all funds donated before Oct. 4.
Our communities are interconnected. If you feel endeared to the bears of Fat Bear Week, I hope you’ll also nurture the wildlife in your area, and the wild life within yourself. The champions do more than survive; they engage with their world in their own extraordinary ways, with their own unique strengths and stories.
May your story be as great as theirs.
May you be loved and protected.
May you eat well
and live large
