Fat Bear Week 2026: How to Vote for Alaska’s Fattest Bear

Back by popular demand, Fat Bear Week is set to kick off next week. Here is what you need to know about this fun competition and how you can participate.

Crowning the Fattest Bear in Alaska

It is almost time to cast your votes for the fattest bear in Alaska. The unofficial end to the summer in Alaska happens with the return of Fat Bear Week. This online competition is a chance for Alaska's brown bears to grab the spotlight as they compete for the crown of the fattest bear of the year.

Now in its 12th year, this annual competition is hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve. The 2026 competition will run from September 22 - 29. Human participants will have the chance to vote all week for their favorite bear, with the winner being crowned on Tuesday, September 29.

Thousands of ballots are cast each year across the various head-to-head matchups. Voters are asked to choose which bear best exemplifies the survival skills needed to pack on the pounds to make it through the brutal Alaska winter. The week-long event is a partnership between Katmai National Park and Preserve, explore.org, and Katmai Conservancy.

Naomi Boak, a media ranger at Katmai, said that "Fat Bear Week is always a celebration of the success of the bears." Boak detailed that the competition is not limited to just one specific type of bear, noting that the nominees include "Not just the big boys, but the sows with cubs, the young teenage bears, the subadults."

According to the National Park Service (NPS), Fat Bear Week celebrates the brown bears that roam the rugged landscape of Katmai National Park and Preserve. These bears start to increase their eating volume in the weeks leading up to the hibernation period. All of the extra calories naturally translate to a bunch of fat bears across Katmai and beyond.

The event initially launched as Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014, quickly expanding to Fat Bear Week in 2015. The best thing about this contest is that anyone can vote and share in on the fun. You do not have to be local, as all of the voting is done online. Voters can even check in on the live webcams on explore.org to check out the bears in their natural habitat. NPS officials say that the webcams provided a great way for voters to observe the bears as they "feast on a banquet of Alaska wild salmon in one of the greatest salmon runs left on earth."

The tournament is a single-elimination format with winners advancing to the next round until there is just one bear standing. Voters are instructed to choose the contestant that they believe "best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears." In other words, the goal is not to pick the cutest or funniest bear. The winner should be the one that you believe is most likely to survive the winter season.

Recapping Fat Bear Week 2025

There were 11 bears who competed in the 2025 Fat Bear Week. The contestants included a range of female and male bears of various ages and sizes. The bear aptly named 32 Chunk emerged victorious in last year's competition, defeating veteran player Bear 856 in the championship round.

32 Chunk was described by event organizers as "A large adult male with narrow-set eyes, dark brown fur, and a prominent brow ridge. He has a distinctive scar across his muzzle and a broken, yet healing jaw." Meanwhile, Bear 856 was described as a "large adult male with brown body fur and light-brown ears. When fishing, he frequently licks his lips, which is a behavioral characteristic expressed by few bears at Brooks River."

Last year's competition brought thousands of people together online to cast their votes. In the end, 32 Chunk came away with 96,350 votes, while Bear 856 received 63,725 votes. As reigning champion, 32 Chunk will return to the field of play to defend his title in 2026.

Who will carry the banner in 2026? Be sure to log on to Katmai's bear cams to watch the bears next week so that you can cast your vote in each round.

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