Fat Bear Week 2024, an annual tournament celebrating brown bears preparing for hibernation, kicked off on Oct. 2. With many twists and turns, one bear was crowned victorious on Oct. 8. The winner of this year’s Fat Bear Week is number 128, Grazer. Grazer also won 2023’s Fat Bear Week.
As bears prepare to hibernate, they need to build up fat to ensure they stay warm and survive the winter. This contest is a way to bring attention to the process that bears must go through during this time of year as well as conservation efforts for the National Park.
The brown bears are live-streamed and observed in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Viewers can tune in and watch the bears hunt and forage their way throughout the week. The live broadcast can then help the viewer determine which bear they would like to vote for. This is a tournament with daily voting until the winner is crowned for whichever bear is the largest. The voting takes place throughout the day on the explore.org website.
Fat Bear Week brings awareness to the bears and the hardships the animals face when hunting for food. This tournament first started in 2014 and with every passing year participation has grown. In 2023, Fat Bear Week saw 1.4 million votes cast towards the bears in the competition.
The champion of this year’s Fat Bear Week, Grazer, had to fight her way to the top. Grazer lost one of her cubs to competitor number 32, Chunk. Grazer would then go on to win the round by roughly 40,000 votes.
2021 marked the first Fat Bear Junior tournament, another competition in which viewers can vote on the bear cubs of Katmai. This Junior tournament gives four cubs the chance to move on to the main Fat Bear Week tournament.
Grazer was first brought to Brooks River in Katmai back in 2005. When it comes to the area, Grazer is a successful hunter at night in Brooks Falls. Grazer has raised two litters of cubs; she is defensive about her babies, often fending off male bears to protect her children. Grazer’s skills as a mother and a hunter make her one of Brooks Falls’ most formidable bears.
