Chunk Wins Fat Bear Week 2025

Chunk (Bear 32), an estimated 1,200-pound brown bear with a broken jaw, won Fat Bear Week 2025 at Katmai National Park, receiving 96,350 votes and beating Bear 856 by 32,625 votes. The single-elimination online contest ran Sept. 23–30 and attracted more than 1.5 million votes. Park rangers credited a record salmon run—roughly 200,000 salmon at Brooks River—for reducing competition for prime fishing spots during the event. Officials say Chunk likely broke his jaw in a mating-season fight but adapted to eat salmon despite the permanent injury, improving his odds of surviving hibernation. The final featured veteran 856, known for long-term river dominance, and Chunk, whose aggressive rise and prior incidents, including killing a cub, have divided observers. Organizers, who have run Fat Bear Week since 2014 to boost public interest in brown bear conservation, note the bears can be viewed on live webcams and partner sites.