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| Brown bear heavyweight Chunk wins Fat Bear Week despite injury | Brown bear heavyweight Chunk wins Fat Bear Week despite injury |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| "Nothing was going to stop him. He's moving forwards no matter what's in his way," said park ranger Sarah Bruce | "Nothing was going to stop him. He's moving forwards no matter what's in his way," said park ranger Sarah Bruce |
| A brown bear weighing over 500kg (78st 8lb) has overcome a broken jaw to become the winner of Fat Bear Week 2025. | A brown bear weighing over 500kg (78st 8lb) has overcome a broken jaw to become the winner of Fat Bear Week 2025. |
| Chunk received the most votes in a competition between 12 brown bears in which people pick the bear they believe "best exemplifies fatness and success" as they prepare for winter hibernation. | |
| Park rangers at Alaska's Katmai National Park, home to some of the largest brown bears in the world, praised Chunk's resilience in learning how to fish with his injury. | Park rangers at Alaska's Katmai National Park, home to some of the largest brown bears in the world, praised Chunk's resilience in learning how to fish with his injury. |
| "He reminded us how resilient bears are and how they have the ability to recover from injury and hardship," ranger Naomi Boak said. | "He reminded us how resilient bears are and how they have the ability to recover from injury and hardship," ranger Naomi Boak said. |
| Chunk the champion before and after stocking up on his winter salmon, in July (left) and September (right) | |
| Voters from more than 100 countries followed the action at Katmai's Brooks River through live web streams, where bears could be seen scooping up salmon and eyeing up their competition. | |
| One voter, Amy Hall, called Chunk an "inspiration" on an explore.org livestream, a nature network that produces the contest in partnership with the National Park Service and the Katmai Conservancy. | |
| "Chunk and I both went through some stuff this summer... and we both have learned to adapt and heal. Thank you, Chunk, for being an inspiration," she said. | "Chunk and I both went through some stuff this summer... and we both have learned to adapt and heal. Thank you, Chunk, for being an inspiration," she said. |
| Chunk broke his jaw in June and observers suspect the injury was the result of a fight with another bear due to the timing of it - during mating season - and the nature of it, according to Chunk's profile on the Fat Bear Week website. | |
| Adult male bears average up to 408kg in mid-summer and often pack on the equivalent of 25% of their bodyweight by autumn. The largest males often tip the scales at more than 540kg. | |
| Chunk beat one of the biggest bears along the river, known as 856, by more than 30,000 votes. | |
| Explore.org's Mike Fitz, a former ranger, said Chunk and 856 were "real-life rivals on the river". | |
| The contest is Fitz's brainchild. What started as a one-day competition with about 1,700 votes in 2014 has since gone global, drawing in and educating fans across the world. | |
| The difference between June and September's weight for Chunk's rival, 856 | The difference between June and September's weight for Chunk's rival, 856 |