After years of coming in 2nd, a 1,200-pound bruin named Chunk wins Alaska’s Fat Bear Week contest The burly brown bear with a broken jaw swept the competition this week, after finishing the popular online contest in second place three previous years.

#Team32Chunk That's King Chunk to you 👑

Runner Up for #FatBearWeek 2025: Bear 856, a smart elder statesbear.

Honorable Mentions: (though not in this article)

Zenmeister Bear 602, The Floatato [by Explore.org ]

and massive sow 901 - She's a Brick House 💯! #Robbed 😆

www.adn.com/alaska-news/...

32 has never won the crown, and with his now permanently crooked jaw (at his age) I worry that he won't be back next year (at all) so #Team32Chunk 🧸 for #FatBearWeek

Besides he should get massive points for his resiliency -- while still making himself, well, massive 😆

#Team32Chunk for #FatBearWeek semifinals bracket 1 today: Chunk is a chonker despite his broken jaw (856 is healthy).

Chunk's jaw healed forever crooked, but he's resilient & hopefully that'll stand him in good stead for his remaining golden years (he's in his 20s👴🏻)

pic from JMcNature's YT vid

FAT BEAR WEEK 2025 Floatato Edition 602's GUIDE TO LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE Sign up for Dance Lessons With 602 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE explore.org (IMAGE: a gloriously fat brown bear floating on his back in the Brooks River, with a cartoon white inner tube drawn around his body)

If 32 Chunk gets to next bracket, my fear is that my two favorites, will go head to head:

#Team32Chunk and 602, The Floatato with the cha cha moves 😂

#FatBearWeek Nerd Worries 🤣

#FatBearWeek 🧸 Chunk's bracket up today, so VOTE #Team32Chunk at fatbearweek.org TODAY (polls open till 9pm ET)

His jaw may be broken 🥺 but 32 Chunk still packed on the pounds. 🐟🐟🐟

Help him bring home his first ever 👑 in his 20s!*

*[yeah, the bears have NO idea us weirdo humans are voting😆]

#Katmai #BrownBears have delayed implantation, and won't bring a pregnancy to term unless they are sufficiently faaaaaat, which 901 is 💯 (I'm still #Team32Chunk 🥰)

Then they give birth in the den (Jan/Feb) to a tiny 1-lb. cub & nurse them until they both come out in spring #FatBearWeek 🧸 #NerdAlert

explore.org poster design by Olivia Lawless 32 Chunk "The Survivor" For Fat Bear 2025 Broken jaw, unbroken spirit

explore.org poster design by Sarah Fife Don't be a PUNK Vote for CHUNK

Didja vote for Chunk today? it's his bracket!

#Team32Chunk #FatBearWeek

fatbearweek.org (polls open till 9pm ET)

@turbokat42.bsky.social see above 🧸 #Team32Chunk

photo of a massive coastal brown bear with a scar across his muzzle and a broken lower jaw FAT BEAR WEEK 2025 VOTE 32 CHUNK 👑 He's got some junk in his trunk @SesameSquirrel

#FatBearWeek 👑 #Team32Chunk - rugged, resilient, and round 🏀

Chunk's not only got bounce, thanks to a summer of sashimi 🐟 but he's bounced back from a brutal spring 🩻

(photo via Explore.org 's IG account)

14. Mystic Bear Claw - Let this be the year Chunk finally wins PHOTO: MIKE REEVES CREATED BY: MYSTICBEARCLAW Explore.org FAT BEARS 2025 Chunk Edition CHUNK "NOT LOSING SLEEP" OVER 164 CHALLENGE PUTTING THE FOLDS IN THIS MONTH'S CENTERFOLD: A SOFTER SIDE OF CHUNK IN HIS OWN WORDS: l WAS HURTING 32 Chunk opens up about the injury that changed his life, how he's learned to cope, and getting fat despite it all! BROOKS BEARS SPILL THE BEANS: 503: IT'S ALWAYS PLAYTIME WITH THAT GUY 602: HIS CHA CHA COULD USE SOME WORK 909: AAAAHHHH

BUT I AM TOTALLY TEAM 32 CHUNK! 🥰

Here is a hilarious poster from the Explore.org poster contest with the author's name 🧸 #Team32Chunk

Fat Bear Week 2025 Fat Bear Week 2025

My good people! Today is the day! Get your bracket ready for it is

FAT BEAR WEEK!
#FatBearWeek
#Team32Chunk

explore.org/fat-bear-week