The Beefy Winner of Fat Bear Week, 128 Grazer, Is a Beautiful Sight to Behold
The annual celebration showcases bears who are preparing for hibernation at Katmai National Park in Alaska
NPS Photo/F. Jimenez
We have a winner!
The champion of Fat Bear Week 2023 has officially been crowned. Her name is 128 Grazer, and she is a vision in brown fur.
The annual competition, which takes place at Katmai National Park in Alaska, asks the public to partake in a bracket-style tournament, voting daily to determine which of the park's resident brown bears, who are focused on packing on pounds this time of year to prepare hibernation, deserves Fat Bear Week's top title.
Behind all the winter weight, each bear has a story.
According to the National Park Service (NPS), 128 Grazer is a bodacious adult female bear with blonde ears and a straight muzzle. She is a highly skilled and dedicated fisher, occasionally taking time to hunt for salmon at Brooks Falls overnight. She is also a mom of two litters — therefore, she is one of the most feared bears at the park by humans and animals alike.
NPS Photo/F. Jimenez
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After arriving in 2005 and mothering several cubs, 128 Grazer has become notorious for being one of the most ruthlessly protective bears at the park. Even most male bears at the park steer clear of her maternal wrath. Her fierceness and dedication to fishing at Brooks Falls gives her a high rank on the Katmai National Park food chain.
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128 Grazer went up against several large competitors, including 32 Chunk, 151 Walker, Bear 164, Bear 284, Bear 402, Bear 428, 435 Holly, 480 Otis, Bear 747, Bear 901, and 806 Junior.
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The runner-up this year was 32 Chunk, but 128 Grazer beat him by more than 85,000 points.
In 2022, 747 won Fat Bear Week after gaining an impressive 1,400 pounds.
"And what do the winners get? Six months of restful solitude," NPS wrote in a press release at the time. "But the real winners are all the healthy bears and all those who participate in the web’s favorite week of the year."
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