In a storyline more suited to a soap opera than a popularity contest, Glaser won his second Fat Bear contest on Tuesday, defeating the giant male bear that killed his cub this summer.
Glaser defeated Chunk with more than 40,000 votes cast by fans watching live cameras from Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Fans vote online for their favorite stocky contestants in a tournament-style bracket starting with 12 bears. They selected bears that they thought were best prepared for winter by the fat they accumulated over the summer by feeding on sockeye salmon returning to the Brooks River.
Bears often perch on top of river waterfalls, grabbing jumping salmon out of the air as the fish attempt to climb over the falls to spawn upstream.
This is where Glaser's cub slipped from a waterfall and was killed by Chunk, perhaps the river's most dominant brown bear. Glaser fought Chunk in an attempt to save the cub, but Chunk later died. The death was captured on live camera.
Just last week, another fatal accident was caught live on camera, delaying the publication of the tournament schedule by a day. Bear 402, a female bear who was supposed to be a participant in this year's contest, was attacked and killed by a male brown bear on the day the bracket was scheduled to go on sale.
According to her profile page on explore.org, Glaser has prominent blonde ears and a long, straight muzzle. “She is a formidable presence on the Brooks River. Her fearlessness and strength have earned her respect and most bears avoid confrontation,” it reads.
Another surviving baby from her third cub placed second in the Fat Bear Junior contest two weeks ago.
Chunk is probably the largest bear in the river, with narrow eyes, dark brown fur and a distinctive scar on his muzzle, his profile states. This year, he used his size to rise to the top of the river hierarchy and secure some of the best fishing spots.
“Chunk's confidence and aggression paid off as he was able to eat 42 salmon in 10 hours,” it said. “His physical success is evident in his large size.”
Adult male brown bears typically weigh between 600 and 900 pounds in midsummer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after migrating and feeding on spawning salmon, large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). Females are about a third smaller.
The annual contest, which received more than 1.3 million votes last year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserves of the Alaska Peninsula, which stretches from the state's southwestern tip to the Aleutian Islands.
In addition to live cameras, Katmai has become a must-visit destination, with observation stands built along the river so people can watch the brown bears hunt for salmon.
