Fat Bear Week has a champion: Salmon-devouring 128 Grazer
The votes are in. The winner of 2023’s Fat Bear Week bracket held by Katmai National Park in Alaska and Explore.org is the adult female bear 128 Grazer.
The victory for 128 Grazer was announced Wednesday.
The annual contest revolves around the feeding frenzy for brown bears along the Brooks River within the park. Voters look at live stream cameras inside the park, operated by Explore.org, and decide which bears have the biggest.
The bears feast on salmon swimming upstream to spawn as preparation for their months of winter hibernation, during which they burn through the fat stores that give the contest its name.
128 Grazer netted 108,321 votes, beating the 23,134 votes brought in by fellow finalist 32 Chunk, an adult male bear, according to the Explore.org tally.
The contest shattered the record for the amount of votes cast, 1,382,783, during Fat Bear Week, park officials posted on social media.
Congrats to 128 Grazer, our 2023 #FatBearWeek champion! Though unaware of her title in this imaginary contest, her success is real! For bears, fat = success, & she’s set up well for winter.
We had a record-shattering 1,382,783 votes! There’s so much love for our bears! pic.twitter.com/jpJY8c78uc
— Katmai National Park (@KatmaiNPS) October 11, 2023
128 Grazer came to the Brooks River as a cub in 2005 and has a reputation for being one of the best fishers among the park’s bears and for pre-emptive aggression against other bears regardless of gender, per her biography on the Katmai National Park website.
This year, 128 Grazer did not have cubs, letting her focus fully on fattening up.
“Grazer’s combination of skill and toughness make her one of Brooks River’s most successful and adaptable bears,” Mike Fitz, a naturalist with Explore.org and a former park ranger at Katmai, said on the site’s Fat Bear Week page.
