The brown bear known as Backpack, officially designated as Bear 89, was named the champion of Fat Bear Week 2026 on Tuesday, September 29. Backpack defeated runner-up Bear 910 in the final round of the online bracket-style competition, which tracks the weight gain of bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Fat Bear Week began in 2014 to highlight the survival needs of brown bears as they prepare for winter hibernation. To build necessary fat reserves, bears at Brooks River consume up to 30 salmon per day. During hibernation, these bears may lose one-third of their total body weight. The 2026 competition featured 16 bears, an increase from the 12 competitors featured in 2025.
In the final round, Backpack received 103,334 votes, while Bear 910 received 98,253. Backpack’s victory follows a lineage of champions; his mother, Holly, won the title in 2019. Bear 910 is the offspring of Bear 409 Beadnose, who won in 2015 and 2018. Last year’s champion, Bear 32 Chunk, was eliminated in the first round of this year's voting by Bear 164 Bucky, who later lost to Backpack in the semifinals.
For the bears, the weight gain observed during this period represents a biological necessity. An adult male brown bear typically weighs between 600 and 900 pounds in midsummer but can exceed 1,000 pounds by the time hibernation begins. Large males gain this mass by eating a year’s worth of food in approximately six months. The competition highlights these physical changes for a global audience through live stream cameras provided by Explore.org, allowing viewers to monitor the bears' feeding habits.
The conclusion of the 2026 tournament marks the 12th year of the program, which is a partnership between the National Park Service, Explore.org, and the Katmai Conservancy. With the crowning of Backpack on September 29, the formal voting period has ended. The bears will now continue their feeding process before entering hibernation, during which they will go months without eating or drinking. Park officials noted a "new generation" of cubs present in higher numbers this year.