ANKERAGE, Alaska — In a storyline more befitting a melodrama than a popularity vote, Grazer won her over second Fat Bear Contest Tuesday by defeating the male behemoth that killed her cub this summer.
Grazer defeated Chunk according to the votes of watching fans live cameras on explore.org of Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Fans cast their votes online for their favorite fat competitor in tournament style brackets that starts with 12 bears. They chose the bear they think best exemplifies winter preparation through the fat they accumulate over the summer by feeding on sockeye salmon returning to Brooks River.
The bears often perch at the top of a waterfall in the river and grab jumping salmon out of the air as the fish try to block the waterfall from spawning upstream.
This is where Grazer’s cub died after sliding over the waterfall and being killed by Chunk, perhaps the most dominant brown bear on the river. Grazer fought Chunk in an attempt to save the cub, but he later died. The death was captured on live cameras.
Last week, another death was caught live on the cameras, delaying the release of the tournament bracket by a day. Bear 402, a female bear that was scheduled to participate in this year’s competition, was killed by a male brown bear on the day the brackets were expected to be released.
Grazer has striking blonde ears and a long, straight snout, according to her biography page on explore.org. “She is a formidable presence at Brooks River. Her fearlessness and strength have earned her respect, with most bears avoiding confrontation,” it reads.
Her other surviving cub from her third litter came second in the Fat Bear Junior competition.
Chunk may be the largest bear on the river, with narrow eyes, dark brown fur and a distinctive scar across his snout, his biography says. He used his size to rise to the top of the river hierarchy this year and secure the best fishing spots.
“Chunk’s confidence and aggression paid off, allowing him to feast on 42 salmon in ten hours,” it reads. “His physical success is clearly visible in his bulky form.”
Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds (about 270 to 410 kilograms) in mid-summer. By the time they’re ready to hibernate after feeding on migrating and spawning salmon — each eating as many as 30 fish a day — large males can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. Females are about a third smaller.
The annual contest, which attracted more than 1.3 million votes last year, is a way to celebrate the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live on the Alaska Peninsula preserve, which stretches from the southwestern corner of the state to in the Aleutian Islands.
In addition to the live cameras, Katmai has become a bucket list tourist destination and viewing stands have been built on the river so people can watch the brown bears fishing for salmon.
