Nature isn't always cute. We usually treat Fat Bear Week like a fluffy, low-stakes pageant where we judge Alaska’s brown bears for being delightfully round. But honestly? The Fat Bear Week 2024 bracket was something else entirely. It wasn't just about who ate the most salmon. It was a saga of survival, a literal life-and-death struggle that played out in front of thousands of people on a webcam.
If you were following the bracket as it dropped, you know things started with a gut punch.
The bracket reveal that almost didn't happen
Usually, the release of the bracket is a day of celebration. Fans at Katmai National Park and Preserve wait all year to see which "chonky" contenders made the cut. But in 2024, the reveal was abruptly postponed. Why? Because the live cameras at Brooks River captured something brutal: Bear 469 (known as Patches) killed Bear 402, a legendary mother and a fan favorite who was supposed to be in the competition.
It was a stark reminder. These aren't pets. They are apex predators driven by hyperphagia, that biological state of extreme hunger where they have to eat anything—and sometimes anyone—to survive the winter.
The park rangers had to pause. They held a live Q&A to help people process the trauma of watching a "beloved" bear die in real-time. It changed the vibe of the whole week. It made the Fat Bear Week 2024 bracket feel heavy before the first vote was even cast.
📖 Related: Who Lives in Palm Beach: The Reality Behind the Zip Code
Grazer vs. Chunk: More than a popularity contest
When the voting finally opened on October 2, the bracket was stacked with 12 bears. But all eyes were on the inevitable collision course between 128 Grazer and 32 Chunk.
This wasn't just a rematch of the 2023 finals. It was personal. Earlier that summer, Chunk had actually killed one of Grazer’s cubs after it slipped over the Brooks Falls. Watching Grazer—a fiercely protective mother with those distinctively blonde ears—navigate the river while Chunk dominated the best fishing spots was like watching a Shakespearean tragedy.
The fans didn't forget.
Grazer didn't just win; she demolished the competition. In the final round on October 8, she pulled in over 71,000 votes. Chunk, despite being an absolute unit who once ate 42 salmon in 10 hours, only managed about 30,000. People weren't just voting for the fattest bear. They were voting for the mother who stood her ground.
Who else was in the mix?
The bracket had some other wild storylines too. You had:
- 747: The two-time champ who is basically a jumbo jet with fur. He’s huge, but he didn't have the "narrative" this year to overcome the Grazer momentum.
- 909 Jr: The 2024 Fat Bear Junior winner. This little cub actually held its own in the main bracket against the big guys for a minute.
- 856: The aging king of the river. He’s been the boss for years, but even he is starting to see his dominance slip as younger, hungrier bears like Chunk move in.
Why 2024 felt different
If you look at the 2024 Fat Bear Week bracket results, the numbers tell one story, but the "vibe" tells another. Over a million votes were cast globally. That’s a lot of people invested in the caloric intake of a bear in remote Alaska.
I think we gravitate toward this because it’s a success story. In a world where so many wildlife headlines are about extinction or habitat loss, seeing Grazer get absolutely massive is a win. A fat bear is a healthy bear. It means the salmon run was good. It means the ecosystem is working.
But 2024 taught us that "success" in the wild is expensive. It costs energy, it costs lives, and it requires a level of toughness that’s hard to wrap your head around while sitting on a couch. Grazer became the first mother bear to win while actively raising a cub, which is basically like winning an Olympic marathon while carrying a toddler.
What you can do now
The 2024 season is in the books, and the bears are currently tucked away in their dens, losing up to a third of that hard-earned body weight. If you're feeling the "post-bracket" blues, there are a few things you can actually do to prep for next year:
- Study the Bear Book: The National Park Service puts out a "Bear Book" every year. It’s not just fluff; it tracks the actual lineage and history of bears like 128 and 32. Reading it makes the bracket way more interesting because you realize Bear A is actually the grandson of Bear B.
- Watch the Riffles Cam: Even when it isn't Fat Bear Week, the explore.org cameras are often live. You can see the bears emerging in the spring when they look like "skeletons with fur," which makes the fall transformation even more insane.
- Support Katmai: The only reason we have these bears to vote on is because their habitat is protected. Look into the Katmai Conservancy if you want to make sure the salmon keep running.
The Fat Bear Week 2024 bracket might be over, but the cycle is already starting again. In a few months, those bears will wake up hungry, and the race for the 2025 crown will begin. Hopefully, with a little less drama next time.