It Was Down to Her and Chunk. She Triumphed

The bear 32 Chunk may have had a "prominent posterior" as his name might suggest, but in the end he lost the Fat Bear Week crown to a smaller female. Edging him out by more than 85,000 votes, 128 Grazer became a first-time winner on Tuesday and the third female bear to win the contest, which began in 2014 and draws in millions of bear lovers, reports the BBC. The annual event follows a dozen bears in Alaska's Katmai National Park as they eat salmon in an effort to beef up ahead of winter.

"The gutsy girl grounded the guy with a gut," the Alaska Katmai National Park & Preserve wrote on X. "32 Chunk, proved his prominent posterior was worthy of a whopping win. But in the end, Chunk got Grazered." It added on Facebook, "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!" If you want the play-by-play of how the 12-bear bracket went down (yes, there were twists), read the Washington Post's report here. (More Fat Bear Week stories.)