Chunk, Bear 32, Wins Fat Bear Week at Katmai

Chunk, a massive brown bear known as Bear 32, was crowned champion of Fat Bear Week on Tuesday after winning an online bracket-style vote that pits the Brooks River denizens of Katmai National Park and Preserve against one another. Organizers said Chunk received 96,350 votes in the final round, defeating Bear 856, who earned 63,725 votes, as part of a contest that drew more than 1.5 million ballots this year.

The weeklong competition, which began in 2014, invites viewers to watch live cameras and review before-and-after photos of bears as they bulk up on sockeye salmon ahead of hibernation, then vote in a single-elimination bracket. Katmai park ranger Ashleigh Monaco said during a livestream, "A fat bear means that bear is more likely to survive hibernation." Organizers and naturalists framed the contest as an educational tool to spotlight bear behavior and the region's salmon-dependent ecosystem.

Chunk entered the competition with a visibly broken jaw, an injury park staff and observers say likely resulted from a fight with another male during mating season. Organizers estimated his weight at about 1,200 pounds. Officials noted that bears are not physically weighed during the...