ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — In a storyline better befitting a melodrama than a popularity vote, Grazer won her second Fat Bear Contest Tuesday by defeating the male behemoth that killed her cub this summer.
Grazer beat Chunk by more than 40,000 votes cast by fans watching live cameras atexplore.org of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.
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This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 32 Chunk at Katmai National Park in Alaska on Sept. 19, 2024. (E. Johnston/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 32 Chunk at Katmai National Park in Alaska on June 29, 2024. (T. Carmack/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 128 Grazer at Katmai National Park in Alaska on Sept. 12, 2024. (M. Carenza/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear bear 128 Grazer at Katmai National Park in Alaska on July 12, 2024. (T. Carmack/National Park Service via AP)
FILE - In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP, File)
Fans cast votes online for their favorite chunky competitor in tournament-style brackets that begins with 12 bears. They picked the bear they believe best exemplifies winter preparedness by the fat they have accumulated over the summer feeding on the sockeye salmon that return to Brooks River.
The bears often perch at the top of a falls in the river, grabbing leaping salmon out of the air as the fish attempt to hurdle the waterfall to spawn upstream.
This is where Grazer’s cub died after it slipped over the waterfall and was killed by Chunk, perhaps the most dominant brown bear on the river. Grazer fought Chunk in an effort to save the cub, but it later died. The death was captured on the live cameras.
Another death was captured live by the cameras just last week, delaying the release of the tournament bracket for a day. Bear 402, a female bear that was supposed to be a contestant in this year’s contest, was killed by a male brown bear the day the brackets were expected to be released.
Grazer has conspicuously blond ears and a long, straight muzzle, according to her bio page at explore.org. “She is a formidable presence on Brooks River. Her fearlessness and strength have earned her respect, with most bears avoiding confrontation,” it says.
Her other surviving cub from her third litter placed second two weeks ago in the Fat Bear Junior contest.
Chunk is perhaps the largest bear on the river, with narrow-set eyes, dark brown fur and a distinctive scar across his muzzle, his bio says. He used his size to rise to the top of the river hierarchy this year and secured the prime fishing spots.
“Chunk’s confidence and aggression paid off, allowing him to feast on 42 salmon in 10 hours,” it says. “His physical success is evident in his bulky form.”
Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds (about 270 to 410 kilograms) in mid-summer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon — each eats as many as 30 fish per day — large males can weigh well over 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms). Females are about one-third smaller.
The annual contest, which drew more than 1.3 million votes last year, is a way to celebrate the resiliency of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands.
In addition to the live cameras, Katmai has become a bucket list tourist destination and viewing stands have been built on the river to allow people to watch the brown bears fish for salmon.
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 32 Chunk at Katmai National Park in Alaska on Sept. 19, 2024. (E. Johnston/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 32 Chunk at Katmai National Park in Alaska on June 29, 2024. (T. Carmack/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear 128 Grazer at Katmai National Park in Alaska on Sept. 12, 2024. (M. Carenza/National Park Service via AP)
This image provided by the National Park Service shows bear bear 128 Grazer at Katmai National Park in Alaska on July 12, 2024. (T. Carmack/National Park Service via AP)
FILE - In this photo provided by the National Park Service is Grazer, the winner of the 2023 Fat Bear Contest, at Katmai National Park, Alaska on Sept. 14, 2023. (F. Jimenez/National Park Service via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are opening lower as a strong year for the market looks set to end on a sour note. The S&P 500 was down 1.3% early Monday. With just two days left in 2024, the benchmark index still on track for its second straight yearly gain of more than 20%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 534 points, or 1.2%. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.5%. Declines in Big Tech companies like Apple and Microsoft weighed on the market. Boeing fell after one of its jets skidded off a runway in South Korea, killing 179 of the 181 people aboard.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street retreated in light premarket trading Monday as the year draws to a close lacking the euphoria that pushed markets to record highs in 2024.
Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.2% to 2,399.49 and shares of Jeju Air Co., a low-cost South Korean airline, lost 8.7% after one of the company’s Boeing 737-800s skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete wall and burst into flames Sunday, killing 179 of the 181 people aboard. Authorities were investigating why the aircraft’s landing gear failed to deploy.
The disaster was yet another blow for Boeing following a machinists strike, further safety problems with its troubled top-selling aircraft and a plunging stock price. Its shares fell 3% in premarket trading and have declined more than 30% this year.
Despite some post-Christmas sluggishness, U.S. financial markets are moving closer to another standout annual finish. The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of around 25% in 2024. That would mark a second consecutive yearly gain of more than 20%, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998.
The gains have been driven partly by upbeat economic data showing that consumers continued spending and the labor market remained strong. Inflation, while still high, has also been steadily easing.
The stream of upbeat economic data and easing inflation helped prompt a reversal in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy this year. Expectations for interest rate cuts also helped drive market gains. The central bank recently delivered its third cut to interest rates in 2024.
In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 1% lower, at 39,894.54. The last trading session of the year ended on a somber note with the Japan Exchange Group's CEO Hiromi Yamaji apologizing during the traditional yearend ceremony over a recent insider trading case.
“I acknowledge trust towards the market is essential for investors to trade with confidence," Yamaji said. The exchange is working to improve training and verify findings of an independent investigation, he said, adding that “we are doing are our utmost best to rebuild trust and prevent this from happening again.”
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX inched back 0.1%, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% Britain’s FTSE 100 was unchanged.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.2% at 20,041.42 while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2% to 3,407.33. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3% to 8,235.00.
U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 28 cents to $70.88 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 20 cents to $73.99 per barrel.
The dollar was trading at 157.55 yen, while the euro rose to $1.0445.
FIL:E - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
Participants perform a traditional hand clap at the end of a ceremony to conclude the year's trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Nikkei 225 index is seen on screen at the site of a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Visitors look at the end of a ceremony to conclude the year's trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Participants perform a traditional hand clap at the end of a ceremony to conclude the year's trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A staff works on the last trading day of the year at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Nikkei 225 index is seen on screen as a TV camera crew films the site of a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Participants attend the end of a ceremony to conclude the year's trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Media wait for the ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of Japan Exchange Group (JPX) delivers a speech at the end of a ceremony to conclude the year's trading at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 30, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
FIL:E - People photograph the New York Stock Exchange in New York's Financial District on Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown behind the statue titled "Fearless Girl", Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
