Tag: Chunk

As Fat Bear Week nears, Chunk shows why this could be his year

Footage shows the massive brown bear struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill” as fans get ready to vote for their favorite bruins.

In case anyone wonders if the brown bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park are ready for Fat Bear Week, check out the footage posted below.

It shows 32 Chunk, arguably the fattest bear never to have been named Fat Bear Week champion, struggling “to haul his large caboose up a hill,” according to Explore.org.

Explore.org, with support from Katmai National Park, maintains live webcams on the Brooks River and at Brooks Falls.

Viewers can watch the bears gorging on salmon each summer and fall as they build fat reserves necessary to get them through the winter hibernation season. (Click here if you don’t see a video player.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_5nX1wpz99/

Fat Bear Week, a celebration of the bears’ fishing success, is a fan-supported competition head each October. This year’s contest is Oct. 2-8.

While Chunk has never been voted winner of the bracket-style competition, he finished runner-up last year to Grazer.

Grazer, a 19-year-old female bear with “conspicuously blond ears,” was the obvious fan favorite, defeating Chunk in the final bracket by a 2-1 margin after nearly 1.3 million votes were cast.

Expect the hype for this year’s competition to ramp up soon.

Famous brown bear ‘Chunk’ given the slip during courtship attempt

Footage shows the female bear taking an extreme measure to avoid contact with the larger bear at Brooks Falls in Alaska.

A bear-cam in Alaska’s Katmai National Park on Monday captured an amusing scene involving a brown bear named Chunk putting the moves on a female bear.

But it turned out that the female bear, apparently not wanting anything to do with Chunk, had the slickest move.

Stated Explore.org, which shared the accompanying footage: “When you’d rather fall down a waterfall than be courted by Chunk.”

The footage showing the bear giving Chunk the slip – intentionally or otherwise – has garnered several responses pertaining to Chunk.

“Chunk is kind of like Leisure Suit Larry – the ladies want no part of him,” reads a top comment on Explore’s Instagram post.

A comment on Twitter: “Poor Chunk, he’s truly lovable really.”

The footage was captured at Brooks Falls, where the most dominant bears in Katmai National Park are foraging on salmon and competing for prime fishing spots.

Chunk, a large adult with numerous facial scars, is a fixture at Brooks Falls and a perennial Fat Bear Week candidate.

Fat Bear Week, conducted annually each October, is a bracket-style, fan-driven competition that celebrates the bears’ success in fattening up sufficiently to survive during hibernation.

Chunk, however, has never been named Fat Bear Week Champion.

Some might say it’s not easy being Chunk.