Backpack's lineage and record bear families signal population recovery
Record bear families and champion lineage reveal population growth at Katmai's Brooks River.
Event / Environment
Fat Bear Week 2026
Annual wildlife celebration at Katmai National Park where brown bears are voted on by the public. Bear 89 (Backpack) won the 2026 championship, with record family participation highlighting conservation success at Brooks River, Alaska.
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2026-09-30 to 2026-10-31 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 30 Sept, 17:48 UTC
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What happened
Fat Bear Week contest celebrates brown bears at Brooks River
Fat Bear Week is a 12-year-old annual contest started in 2014 to celebrate the resilience of approximately 2,200 brown bears living in Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaska Peninsula. The interactive event educates the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies. Voting is conducted online at www.fatbearweek.org, and the public can observe the bears on explore.org's livestream cameras before voting.
Record number of bear families observed at Brooks River in 2026
Fat Bear Week 2026 featured five bear families in recognition of a record high number of families and cubs at Brooks River that summer. Bear 132, one of the largest and most experienced mother bears at the river, advanced to the semifinals with her three spring cubs before losing to Bear 910. Mother bears must feed and protect cubs while consuming enough calories to sustain themselves through hibernation.
Brown bears accumulate fat reserves during six-month salmon season
Brown bears at Brooks River gorge themselves on abundant salmon starting in late June, consuming as many as 30 fish per day. Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900 pounds in midsummer and can exceed 1,000 pounds by hibernation season. Females are approximately one-third smaller. The bears consume a year's worth of food in about six months to prepare for winter hibernation, during which they do not eat or drink and can lose one-third of their body weight.
Backpack descended from former Fat Bear Week champion Holly
Backpack is the son of Holly, a former Fat Bear Week champion who introduced him to Brooks River when he was a first-year cub in 2006. His name was inspired by his habit of climbing onto his mother's back when they swam the river. Backpack is known for his non-aggressive behavior toward competitors, using what observers describe as 'quiet strength' rather than confrontation.
Backpack wins 2026 Fat Bear Week championship at Katmai National Park
Backpack, officially known as Bear 89, won the 2026 Fat Bear Week competition at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The brown bear secured victory with more than 100,000 votes in an online poll, narrowly defeating Bear 910 with just over 50% of the vote. The single-elimination tournament featured 16 bears competing for the heavyweight title.
Bear 32 Chunk defeated in first round of 2026 Fat Bear Week
Chunk, officially known as Bear 32, was the Fat Bear Week champion from 2025, weighing an estimated 1,200 pounds at the time of his victory. In the 2026 competition, Chunk was defeated in the first round by Bucky, who subsequently lost to Backpack in the following round.
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Backpack Wins 2026 Fat Bear Week Championship at Katmai
Backpack won 2026 Fat Bear Week championship at Katmai National Park.