Bear 32, called Chunk, finally captured Fat Bear Week on Tuesday after placing second in 2020, 2023 and 2024.

The male brown bear won with 96,350 votes versus Bear 856, a fellow male with no nickname, according to Explore.org, which coordinates the yearly Fat Bear Week voting with Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, where the competing animals gorge themselves during the summer. It was Chunk’s first victory.

“Thank you to everyone who has voted! For the first time ever, 32 ’Chunk’ takes home the gold — or should we say red (because of all the salmon he ate),” the national park wrote on Facebook.

The big bear that bested Bear 32 in 2023 and 2024, female Bear 128, was ousted in the semifinals by Bear 856, per Explore.org. Over the course of the contest, about 1.5 million votes were cast, reported The Associated Press.

Bear 32 was able to put on enough pounds to impress the voting public despite a broken jaw. He returned to Katmai’s Brooks River area in June with his jaw already broken, possibly from a fight with another male during the bear breeding season. 

Although his jaw is permanently disabled, Bear 32 was still able to find enough salmon to eat because “he adjusted his behavior to avoid most direct confrontations with other large male bears” and “learned to eat salmon without the full use of his [lower jaw],” Explore.org said in a profile.

Bear 32 also benefited from the glut of salmon that swam upstream to the park this year.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.