The Fat Bear Week competition organized each year by Katmai National Park in Alaska and Explore.org has a back-to-back champion.

Explore.org operates a live-streamed feed of the bears along the Brooks River at Katmai, and each year during Fat Bear Week the voting public can choose which bear best gorged itself and fattened up for winter.

Adult female brown bear 128 Grazer won the final vote in 2023 over male rival 32 Chunk and did the same this time.

“Heavy is the bear that wears the crown. … For the second year running 128 Grazer is crowned #FatBearWeek Champ!” the National Park Service wrote on X.

The defending champ improved her voting margin from 2023, where she had a nearly 2-to-1 vote share over 32 Chunk. By the time voting closed for this year’s contest at 9 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, 128 Grazer had garnered over 71,000 votes compared with just over 30,000 for 32 Chunk.

There was extra drama in the matchup this year. In July, as 128 Grazer and her cubs were fishing for salmon, both cubs were swept over Brooks Falls along the Brooks River at Katmai.

The two cubs were carried by the water toward 32 Chunk, who attacked. Grazer sprang into action to defend the duo, but not before Chunk injured one of them. That cub would go on to die of its wounds, Katmai National Park said on its Fat Bear Week 2024 landing page.

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