Meet the bears competing to be the 2026 Fat Bear Week champion in Alaska national park
Voting opens on Tuesday, Sept. 22 and the winner will be crowned on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
FILE: Fisherman and grizzly bear share Alaskan river
A fisherman and a female grizzly bear shared a river in Alaska last week, as the large animal carelessly dunks her head while searching for salmon.
KATMAI NATIONAL PARK, Alaska - Fat Bear Week is back at Katmai National Park in Alaska and this year, the competition is fiercer than ever.
The competition happens every year to see which bears in Katmai National Park have packed on the most pounds ahead of their winter hibernation.
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It's a single elimination tournament, when the public votes online for who they think is the fattest bear.
Bear 32 Chunk, the 2025 winner of Fat Bear Week. Photo shows 32 Chunk with his broken jaw.
(T. Carmack/National Park Service/Facebook / FOX Weather)
Voting opens on Tuesday, Sept. 22 and the winner will be crowned on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
Bear families, subadult bears, adult females and adult males will all go head-to-head during the competition this year.
Located in southern Alaska, Katmai National Park is home to one of the largest populations of brown bears on the planet, along with the healthiest run of their favored entrée, wild sockeye salmon, according to the National Park Service.
The waterfall at the Brooks River's halfway point makes it a perfect location for bears to fish.
(NPS Photo / L. Law / FOX Weather)
Let's meet the bears competing to be the chunkiest of them all:
Adult males
- 32 Chunk: Last year's champ with the distinct muzzle and broken jaw which he sustained last year.
- 89 Backpack: A medium to large adult male bear who got his nickname for climbing onto his mother's back when he was a cub.
- 151 Walker: A large adult male with dark brown fur who was easygoing as a young one, but isn't afraid to challenge other bears today.
- 164 Bucky: Another large adult who was first identified in 2019 and is often identified by a line of darker fur near his eyes on his upper muzzle.
- 903 Gully: A medium-large male bear who earned his nickname for his unusual behavior eating fish. He is often identifiable by his Eeyore-like sitting position.
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Single adult females
- 131: This maturing female bear was born in 2018 and has blond ears, dark eyes, a short muzzle and light brown to blond fur.
- 428 Studious: A small adult female bear who is the famous child of former bear week Champion 128 Grazer.
- 909: A large adult female who lost her litter of cubs over the summer and is still motivated for hibernation despite the loss.
- 910: The sister of 909 who is single and enjoys fishing. She is often recognized by her peculiar and frequent head lifts at the lip of Brooks Falls.
Subadults
- 620: This female subadult bear has a long tail and whose mother, 910, and aunt, 909, are also competing in this year's competition.
- 694: A male subadult bear on a journey of discovery. He has round ears placed high on his head and uniformly brown fur.
Bear families are also included this year. Five mother bears and their cubs of the year can also be voted for in the competition.
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Fat Bear Week began in 2014, according to the National Park Service.
Subadult bear 620 in Fall 2025.
(Katmai National Park)
Last year, over 1.7 million votes were cast from more than 100 countries during the competition.
Learn more about the competition and vote for your favorite bears this year at their website.