
She Is Woman, Hear Her Roar: Working Mom Wins Second Straight Fat Bear Week Crown
A 2024 Fat Bear Week that started on a somber note after a bruin on bruin fatal skirmish at Katmai National Park and Preserve ended with a dramatic final showdown between a mama sow and the boar that had killed one of the former’s cubs. But the two finalists also squared off last year with the same result: 128 Grazer again won the vote over perennial contender 32 Chunk. Grazer dominated the final vote, earning over 71,000 tallies to just over 30,000 casting their lot for Chunk. But this time, she won the crown as a mother, though she did suffer a devastating loss of one of her cubs in a confrontation with Chunk. Here’s more from NPR:
In July, two of Grazer’s cubs fell over a waterfall in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. They were carried downstream near Chunk, “the most dominant bear on the river,” according to explore.org, the organization that documents the bears using live cameras.
Chunk attacked the cubs and one died from its injuries. The surviving cub was a contestant for the 2024 Fat Bear Junior.
Here’s the full bracket…

This year, according to explore.org, which coordinates the voting, just over one million total votes were cast in the contest. Here’s some more reaction via social media: