It's been a busy summer for the bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve, feasting on fresh salmon and packing on the pounds. Now it is time for them to show off their bods as wildlife enthusiasts across the world vote to crown the fattest bear of 2026 during Fat Bear Week.
The annual beloved online showdown that turns Alaska's bulkiest brown bears into internet celebrities is returning for its 12th edition this week, celebrating the bears' remarkable pre-hibernation glow-up. Thousands of fans will cast ballots in head-to-head matchups to decide which bear best embodies the survival skills and healthy appetite needed to make it through Alaska's harshest months.
Sixteen bears will go "head-to-head in a bracket-style competition to see which bear of
Brooks River is the fattest," the park said about the competition. "A fat bear is a successful bear, and Fat Bear Week celebrates the success of these wild, brown bears."
"Fat Bear Week is always a celebration of the success of the bears," Naomi Boak, a media ranger at Katmai, previously told USA TODAY. "Not just the big boys, but the sows with cubs, the young teenage bears, the subadults."
But when the votes are counted, only one bear will earn the title of Fat Bear Week champion. Here's what to know about the annual competition, including when it starts and how voting works.
When is Fat Bear Week 2026?
Fat Bear Week runs Sept. 22-29, according to organizers. The champion will be crowned on Sept. 29 after several days of fan voting, with no voting scheduled for Sept. 26-27.
How to watch and vote
Voting for Fat Bear Week takes place online, with winners advancing through a single-elimination bracket until one champion remains. It is set to start on Sept. 22 at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT.
Fans can follow the competition through Katmai's famous bear cams and cast ballots in each matchup during the tournament. The event is a partnership with Katmai National Park and Preserve, explore.org and Katmai Conservancy.
Which bears are competing this year?
Organizers announced the bracket for this year's competition on Friday, Sept. 18, saying finalists were narrowed from more than 100 bears who were spotted at Katmai National Park's Brooks River this year.
Park and preserve naturalist Mike Fitz, while announcing the bracket during a livestream, said the brown bears had reached "peak fat" and are ready to handle the long winter ahead. National Park Service's Sarah Bruce said the bears were eventually selected from those who showed up at the river early in the summer and reappeared again later in the season, allowing the team an opportunity to take good before-and-after photos showing how many pounds the bears packed on while feasting on salmon over the summer.
Participants have been divided into different groups and include:
Bear families
- 132 and 3 spring cubs: Despite being one of the largest and most experienced mother bears at Brooks River, 132 is a first-timer at Fat Bear Week, competing with her fourth known litter of three spring cubs. She is characterized by grizzled dark brown fur, forward-leaning ears, and a wide belly. Her face is distinguished from other bears by the inverted V or chevron pattern of fur on her forehead.
- 284 and 2 spring cubs: This mother has a prominent shoulder hump, grizzled brown fur, and blond-tipped ears.
- 610 and 2 spring cubs: Making her first Fat Bear Week appearance, this small adult female has a long muzzle and grizzled light brown fur. She is identifiable by a large scar, which is sometimes visible at the top of her hips.
- 806: Mother to a spring cub and adopted 2.5-year-old cub, this bear has round blond-tipped ears and grizzled brown fur.
- 901 and her spring cub: 901 is a medium-sized adult female with blond-rimmed and triangle-shaped ears. Her fur is golden brown in early summer and grizzled brown in late summer.
Sub-adult bears
- 620: A female subadult bear with a long tail and light brown fur that becomes grizzled brown by late summer.
- 694: A male subadult with round ears placed high on his head and uniformly brown fur with hints of a remnant natal collar near his neck.
Adult females
- 909: A large adult female with brown late summer fur and wide-set blond ears. She's a resilient mama bear, who lost two of her cubs this season.
- 428 Studious: Daughter of former Fat Bear Week Champion Bear #128 Grazer, 428 is recognizable with her short-pointed muzzle, blond ears, and grizzled blond fur in late summer.
- 131: This bear has blond ears, dark eye rings, a short muzzle, and light brown to blond fur that turns grizzled brown by late summer.
- 910: With dark brown fur, a prominent brow ridge, and somewhat short forward-pointing ears, 910 has attracted desires from many males during the brief bear mating season, including fellow Fat Bear Week contenders Bucky and Walker.
Adult males
- 32 Chunk: 2025's Fat Bear Week Champion has a large distinctive scar on his muzzle and a protruding canine tooth from a broken jaw suffered in 2025.
- 164 Bucky Dent: With grizzled brown fur and blond-tipped ears, this young upstart is an ace fisher-bear. He stands out with a line of darker fur near his eyes on his upper muzzle.
- 151 Walker: A Brooks River regular, this large adult male has dark brown fur, a pear-shaped body, a long muzzle and large round ears.
- 903 Gully: Two-time champion Grazer's offspring, Gully got this nickname because he likes to snack on gulls in addition to salmon. The medium-large adult male has grizzled brown fur and a long straight muzzle. In the early summer, he is often identifiable by his Eeyore-like sitting position on the lip of Brooks Falls.
What is Fat Bear Week?
Fat Bear Week is an annual celebration of Katmai's brown bears as they reach peak weight heading into hibernation, according to the National Park Service.
The annual event, which began as Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014 and expanded into Fat Bear Week in 2015, is held at the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Wildlife and bear enthusiasts from across the world are invited to participate in the event via live cams on explore.org, through which they can observe the bears in their natural habitats as they "feast on a banquet of Alaska wild salmon in one of the greatest salmon runs left on earth," NPS said.
The single-elimination tournament is held as hibernating bears reach peak fat after a summer-long effort. For each matchup, contestants vote for the bear they believe "best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears," officials wrote on the contest website.
As Katmai National Park puts it: Pick the bear you believe is most prepared to survive the long Alaska winter.
Who won Fat Bear Week 2025?
32 Chunk claimed the Fat Bear Week crown in 2025, defeating veteran bear 856 in the championship matchup.
According to previous USA TODAY reporting, 32 Chunk received 96,350 votes, while 856 earned 63,725 votes.
You can see all the previous winners in explore.org’s Fat Bear Week Hall of Champions.
Contributing: Eve Chen and Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fat Bear Week is back. Meet this year's contenders
