Current:Home > ScamsDon’t mess with this mama bear: Grazer easily wins popular Fat Bear Contest at Alaska national park-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Don’t mess with this mama bear: Grazer easily wins popular Fat Bear Contest at Alaska national park
View Date:2025-01-11 10:28:09
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — When it comes to packing on the pounds to survive an Alaska winter, this year’s undisputed champ is Grazer.
Grazer, also known as Bear 128 to the fans of Fat Bear Week at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, won this year’s contest, handily defeating Chunk 108,321 to 23,134 in the finals.
The annual contest, which this year drew more than 1.3 million votes from dedicated fans watching the bears live at explore.org, is way to celebrate the resiliency of the brown bears that live on the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands.
Viewers of Alaska’s most-watched popularity contest are glued to computer screens all summer long to see which bears are stocking up the most on salmon. They then vote in tournament style brackets over the course of a week, advancing bears to the next round until a champion is crowned. Grazer took the title Tuesday.
According to Grazer’s biography on the Katmai website, the large adult female is often one of the fattest bears to collect salmon on Brooks River inside Katmai. Park officials call her “one of the best anglers” in the park, fishing day or night from many different parts of the river, even chasing down fleeing salmon.
Grazer is one of an estimated 2,200 brown bears that call Katmai home.
A true mama bear, she’s known to attack larger bears, even adult males, to ensure her cubs are safe. She’s used her skills to successfully raise two litters of cubs.
This year’s contest was in peril just weeks ago. Had Congress not come to a last-minute deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September, Fat Bear Week would have been postponed since park employees would not have been allowed to count the votes.
veryGood! (9662)
Related
- Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown Alleges Ex Kody Made False Claims About Family’s Finances
- What is meningococcal disease? Symptoms to know as CDC warns of spike in bacterial infection
- How will Inter Miami fare without Messi vs. NYCFC? The latest on Messi, live updates
- Roll Tide: Alabama books first March Madness trip to Final Four with defeat of Clemson
- 2 dead in explosion at Kentucky factory that also damaged surrounding neighborhood
- A woman, 19, is killed and 4 other people are wounded in a Chicago shooting early Sunday
- The wait is over. Purdue defeats Tennessee for its first trip to Final Four since 1980
- LSU's Flau'jae Johnson thrives on basketball court and in studio off of it
- Brian Kelly asks question we're all wondering after Alabama whips LSU, but how to answer?
- It's the dumbest of NFL draft criticism. And it proves Caleb Williams' potential.
Ranking
- Beyoncé has released lots of new products. Here's a Beyhive gift guide for the holidays
- A River in Flux
- Men’s March Madness highlights: NC State, Purdue return to Final Four after long waits
- A mom's $97,000 question: How was her baby's air-ambulance ride not medically necessary?
- Hill House Home’s Once-A-Year Sale Is Here: Get 30% off Everything & up to 75% off Luxury Dresses
- Numbers have been drawn for an estimated $935 million Powerball jackpot
- Alabama's Nate Oats called coaching luminaries in search of advice for struggling team
- Veteran CB Cameron Sutton turns himself in weeks after domestic violence allegation
Recommendation
-
Vikings' Camryn Bynum celebrates game-winning interception with Raygun dance
-
Go inside Hub City Bookshop in South Carolina and meet mascot cat Zora
-
Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's Chef Michael Dane Has a Simple Change to Improve Your Diet
-
Transgender athlete Cat Runner is changing sport of climbing one remarkable step at a time
-
Katharine Hayhoe’s Post-Election Advice: Fight Fear, Embrace Hope and Work Together
-
Mega Millions winning numbers for March 29 drawing; $20 million jackpot
-
A biased test kept thousands of Black people from getting a kidney transplant. It’s finally changing
-
No injuries or hazardous materials spilled after train derailment in Oklahoma