Fat Bear Week winner a ‘gutsy girl’

A winner in this year’s Fat Bear Week has been crowned, and she’s a “gutsy girl.”

The bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve is described as “thicker than a bowl of oatmeal” in a post on the park’s Facebook account.

The bear, 128 Grazer, is a mother who has raised two litters of cubs and is an excellent angler, according to the National Park Service.

“She often preemptively confronts and attacks much larger bears—even large and dominant adult males—in order to ensure her cubs are safe. Her behavior produced benefits beyond the protection of her cubs,” the park service said on a webpage with info on this year’s tournament. 

“In summer 2023, many other bears remembered her reputation and Grazer maintained a high level of dominance even though she was single,” according to the page.

“For example, a large adult male, 151 Walker, regularly avoided her approach. Grazer’s combination of skill and toughness makes her one of Brooks River’s most formidable, successful, and adaptable bears,” the park service said, referring to an area of the park.

Grazer easily squashed her male rival, 32 Chunk, in the final round of this year’s Fat Bear Week by more than 80,000 votes.

Fat Bear Week has been hosted annually by Katmai since 2014. Brown bears are pitted against each other in a “March Madness” style tournament in which online voters pick the bear they think is the “fattest bear of the year.”

“Fat Bear Week is a celebration of success and survival,” the park service continued. “It is a way to celebrate the resilience, adaptability and strength of Katmai’s brown bears.”