In the 10th year of fierce competition among local brown bears in Alaska's Katmai National Park, a new heavyweight hero has emerged to claim the title of "summer fat bear." Female brown bear 128 Grazer easily defeated male finalist 32 Chonk, receiving 108,321 votes compared to the other male finalist's 23,134 votes.This year's competition, which ran from October 4 to October 10, attracted more than a million votes and saw fans watching the bears through live cameras set up along the Brooks River as they participated in the annual salmon feast.

Park ranger Naomi Boak considers Glazer "the best angler on the river" this year, and he's just trying to fatten himself up before his next hibernation. Although GRAZER once raised cubs and earned the reputation of a "ferocious guardian," she still took full advantage of being single and empty nesting and spent all her energy on eating.

Skinny Glazer hunting NBoak/Katmai National Park and Preserve in September

Glazer, who looked almost unrecognizable in the "after" photo, beat out previous winners - 2022 favorite 747 and 2019 Holly - on her way to the title to become the heavy favorite for Fat Bear Week.

"She is beautiful, she is graceful, and her cheeks are stuffed with salmon," the National Park Service wrote on Facebook. "With his combination of skill and resilience, Glaser is one of the strongest, most successful and adaptable black bears in the Brooks River and is well prepared for the winter."

Glaser was introduced to the Brooks River as a cub in 2005 and has become an accomplished fishing bear, catching salmon on the lip of Brooks Falls, distant pools and drop pools. It will also pick up dying fish and even stay up all night to catch them.

The team added that park rangers "haven't seen a bear walking like this since Jurassic Park."

For greedy brown bears, catching salmon at the top of a waterfall is no easy task

When local brown bears wake up from hibernation, which lasts from late June to mid-October, they lose about one-third of their body weight and then feed frantically on nutritious salmon. Whether they survive the rest of hibernation depends on whether they can fatten up during the fishing frenzy.

It’s also a celebration of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, home to more brown bears than people and the world’s most important sockeye salmon run—the largest, healthiest sockeye salmon run on the planet.