Fat Bear Week
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Fat Bear Week 2026 voting opens Sept. 22 at noon ET, champion crowned Sept. 29.
The bracket follows a summer when rangers recorded two cub deaths near Brooks River.
Background
Fat Bear Week is an annual bracket-style contest that celebrates Katmai's brown bears as they feast on salmon and build fat reserves for winter, with the public voting for a champion. It is a partnership between the National Park Service, Explore.org and the Katmai Conservancy, and began in 2014 as a one-day event called Fat Bear Tuesday. This year's edition follows an exceptional 2025 salmon run that produced a small population explosion at Brooks Camp, and a summer in which rangers recorded two cub deaths near Brooks River.
How it unfolded
- 2014Fat Bear Week began as a one-day event, Fat Bear Tuesday, with 1,700 votes cast.
- 2015The event expanded into Fat Bear Week.
- 2025Over 1,700,000 votes were cast from more than 100 countries before Bear 32, nicknamed "Chunk," was crowned champion.
- Jul 29, 2026Explore.org's live "Kat's River View" camera captured bear 806 killing and eating a spring cub belonging to another female, bear 909 — the first infanticide rangers say has ever been recorded that close to Brooks River.
- Aug 4, 2026A second cub died after climbing into a tree occupied by another mother's cubs; that mother pulled the intruding cub down and fatally injured it, according to rangers.
- Sep 11, 2026An NPS news release announced Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai National Park Sept. 22-29, 2026.
- Sep 18, 2026The Fat Bear Week bracket was revealed.
- Sep 22, 2026Fat Bear Week voting begins at noon ET.
- Sep 26, 2026 -27, 2026No voting on the weekend.
- Sep 29, 2026The champion will be crowned.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Park Superintendent Mark Sturm said there are more cubs at Brooks Camp this year than have been seen in a long time, calling it a new generation of fat bears that is off to a strong start.
- Expert
- Naturalist Mike Fitz said the brown bears have reached "peak fat" and are ready to handle the long salmon-less winter ahead.
- Caution
- The Katmai Conservancy said healthy salmon runs are the foundation of the park's bear population, and any disruption to salmon habitat, water quality or spawning streams could have ripple effects throughout the ecosystem.
Still unverified
Rangers aren't certain exactly how Bear 32 "Chunk" sustained his broken mandible, broken canine and broken front teeth. A KTOO writer's personal hunch that Bear 164 "Bucky" is the son of 747 cannot be proven.