Mr Urge NZ Bear winner (in between the runners up) Anton Cronje will represent New Zealand at this year's Southern HiBearnation bears festival in Melbourne after winning Mr URGE Bear NZ 2007 last night. Before a packed crowd at Auckland's Urge Bar, the 30-year-old insurance broker defeated five other hot and hairy contestants to walk off with the main prize. Second place went to Marc Smith while Mark Carrick took out third place. Judges on the night were Chris Carter MP, last year's winner Damian Calleja, Garth Houltham from Auckland Bears and Urge stalwart Mike Binis. Originally born in Zambia before moving to South Africa at a young age, Cronje came to New Zealand five years ago to visit his brother and liked it so much here he decided to stay. A member of the Team Auckland Masters Swimmers, Cronje has also been active in the community by appearing in the Queen of the Whole Universe pageant. He admits he is stunned to have won. “I am so overwhelmed. I am really honoured to be representing New Zealand. I also really enjoy supporting the charities. This will be my first ever trip to Australia,” said Cronje. Last year's Mr Urge Bear winner, Damian Calleja, won the main prize at Southern HiBearnation and is getting ready to compete in Chicago in May. URGE co-owner Alan Granville says the Mr Urge Bear NZ contest is a brilliant fundraiser for the NZAF and Body Positive. “We thought we couldn't match last year's figure of $800 raised in 20 minutes of raffle collecting, but we blew that figure away this time around. Altogether $1,300 was raised so a huge thank-you to the audience, contestants and judges, as well as the organisations and people who sponsored the prizes,” said Granville. Southern HiBearnation, which is the largest bears gathering in the southern hemisphere, takes place June 22-24. More pictures from the contest are available in our ‘Out and About' gallery. Ref: Urge (m)