The annual Fat Bear Week bracket for 2026 was released on Friday, featuring 16 brown bears from Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The single-elimination tournament invites the public to vote on which bear has most successfully gained weight in preparation for winter hibernation. This year's competition has expanded from the 12 competitors featured in recent years to 16.
Park officials and naturalists reported a high number of cubs in the Brooks River area this season. Park Superintendent Mark Sturm stated in a news release that there are more cubs at Brooks Camp than have been seen in a long time, signaling a generational shift in the park's bear population. Mike Fitz, a resident naturalist at Explore.org, reported that 37 cubs were counted at Brooks River this year.
The 2026 bracket includes returning champions and new contenders. Bear 32, known as "Chunk," is the defending champion and weighs over 1,200 pounds. New competitors include Bear 89, nicknamed "Backpack," and 151 Walker, described by the park as one of the most dominant bears on the river. The bracket also features mother bears, such as Bear 806, who is raising both a spring cub and an adopted older cub.
Bears in the park undergo a process called hyperphagia, a period of intense eating to build fat reserves for the winter. During this time, adult males can increase their weight from approximately 600 pounds in the summer to more than 1,000 pounds by the fall. Public voting for the tournament is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 22, and will conclude with the naming of a champion on September 29.
The tournament serves as an educational tool for Katmai National Park and Preserve to inform the public and students about the ecosystem of its 4.2 million acres. The park is home to an estimated 2,200 brown bears. By highlighting the physical transformation of the bears, the program draws attention to the health of the sockeye salmon runs and the environmental conditions necessary for the bears to survive the winter.
The scale of public engagement is global, with the park reporting that more than 1.7 million votes were cast from over 100 countries during the previous year's contest. For the individual bears, the weight gain is a matter of survival; an adult male may nearly double its body mass, moving from 600 pounds to over 1,000 pounds in a single season. This weight gain must sustain them through months of hibernation when they do not eat or drink.
For the public and educators, the event provides a timeline for observing wildlife behavior via webcams provided by Explore.org. Viewers will see the fishing and social interactions of the 16 bracketed bears and 37 counted cubs. Following the start of voting on September 22, the results will determine the winner by September 29. The tournament also highlights specific wildlife management outcomes, such as the survival and adoption rates among the number of cubs observed this year.