Bear 32 Chunk was a Fat Bear Week finalist in both 2023 and 2024.
Bear 856 is one of the largest bears in the river.

Three times could be the charm for a burly brown bear who’s once again vying for Fat Bear Week champion.

Bear 32 Chunk has lost the title to bear 128 Grazer two years in a row.

However this year, he’s facing a new challenger: bear 856, who beat Grazer in this year’s semifinals.

It's up to the public to decide who will win the March Madness-style bracket polls, starring some of biggest bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Here’s what to know about the two finalists competing on Sept. 30.

Bear 32 Chunk

Fat Bear Week's website describes Chunk as one of the largest bears along the Brooks River. That's where Katmai’s famous bears feast on salmon all summer long.

His features include narrow-set eyes, a strong brow ridge, "a distinctive scar across his muzzle and a broken, yet healing jaw." It’s believed he may have permanently injured his jaw in a fight with another bear this past mating season.

Initially, there were concerns about Chunk being able to maintain dominance along the river and pack on enough pounds to survive the upcoming winter, but the event’s website says, "Chunk used his determination and adaptability to persevere through injury."

Bear 856

Bear 856 is another massive adult male, "with an assertive disposition equal to his size," according to Fat Bear Week’s website.

For more than a decade, he was "the river’s most consistently dominant bear." However, now that he’s in his mid-20s, bear 856 picks his battles carefully, often yielding to larger bears.

The website says he also patiently fishes in less productive areas of the river, and "when fishing, he frequently licks his lips, which is a behavioral characteristic expressed by few bears at Brooks River."

Fat Bear Week voting

Who will win?

In reality, bear 32 Chunk, bear 856 and all of this year's competitors are already winners for bulking up for winter.

But for bragging rights, voting for Fat Bear Week finals opens at noon ET on Sept. 30 on the event's website.

The poll closes at 9 p.m. the same day.

(This story has been updated to correct a typo.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: It's the Fat Bear Week finals. Will this be the year 32 Chunk finally wins?

Reporting by Eve Chen, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect