Backpack Wins Katmai’s Fat Bear Week

A large male brown bear known as 89 Backpack has won the 2026 Fat Bear Week competition, an annual online vote featuring bears in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. He narrowly defeated finalist 910, receiving about 103,000 votes to 910’s 98,000. Backpack, now about 20 years old, was named for climbing onto his mother Holly’s back while swimming; Holly won the competition in 2019. Organisers and fans describe him as calm and quietly tough, and his story includes overcoming a leg injury when he was young. His opponent also has a Fat Bear Week family connection: 910’s mother, 409 Beadnose, won in 2015 and 2018. The article explains how the event grew from live-streaming cameras installed in the park in 2012. After a viewer shared a before-and-after image of a bear gaining weight, public enthusiasm inspired park rangers to create the week-long contest. Fans around the world vote in knockout rounds for the bear they believe best represents “fatness and success in brown bears”—not simply the heaviest animal. The bears gain weight by eating salmon to build fat reserves for winter hibernation. Katmai rangers say they can eat more than 30 salmon a day. This year’s field included former champion 32 Chunk, who adapted after breaking his jaw, 164 Bucky, and 131 Marshmallow, who gained more weight proportionally than ever before. The article also notes that cubs, previously featured in a separate Fat Bear Week Junior tournament, joined their mothers in the main competition. One cub, 901 Jr, was seen with porcupine quills in its paw. The playful, chat-style recap closes by pointing readers toward another unusual online animal event: the Fish Doorbell, expected to return in March.

A brown bear known as 89 Backpack has won Katmai National Park’s annual Fat Bear Week competition in Alaska. In the final round, Backpack narrowly beat Bear 910, receiving 103,344 votes to her 98,253. The National Parks Service described the contest as a “battle of size, skill, snack acquisition, and strategic loafing” and thanked the 16 bears that “involuntarily participated” in its thirteenth year. Backpack’s supporters praised his size and appearance, while fans of 910 argued that she deserved the title. Bear 910 is a female who raised both her own cub and an adopted niece. Although the finalists’ latest weights have not been released, the article explains how brown bears build up fat before winter: from June to mid-October, they eat heavily, including salmon from Brooks River. During hibernation, which can last up to six months, bears neither eat nor drink and lose about one-third of their body weight. Adult male brown bears can weigh up to 408kg in mid-summer and the largest can exceed 540kg; females may top 300kg, while cubs are born at roughly half a kilogram. Backpack’s name comes from his childhood habit of climbing onto his mother Holly’s back as she crossed the river. Holly won Fat Bear Week in 2019. Organisers say bears need ample fat reserves to survive winter in their dens. The competition attracted more than 1.7 million votes from over 100 countries last year.

Adult male brown bear 89 Backpack won Katmai National Park and Preserve’s 2026 Fat Bear Week, defeating female bear 910 by just over 5,000 votes. Backpack received 103,344 votes to 910’s 98,253 in the final. The contest celebrates the bears’ summer weight gain as they feed at Brooks Falls in Alaska, and voters compare before-and-after photographs and watch livestreams before choosing the bear they consider chunkiest. Backpack’s name dates to his cubhood, when he was often seen clinging to his mother Holly’s back as she swam across a river. Holly was also a past champion. Backpack survived an injury in 2007 and is described by park staff as having “quiet toughness.” His biography notes that he has fewer scars than might be expected for a male bear his age because he is less aggressive than some competitors. He will stand up for himself when needed, but generally uses a quieter approach to gain access to preferred fishing spots. Former Katmai Conservancy communications specialist Naomi Boak called him “a gentleman bear” and said she was glad he had finally made the competition bracket. Watching him on the park’s livestream from her New York apartment in 2019 helped inspire her to move to Alaska and work with the park; she called him her “gateway bear.” The 2026 event had its largest lineup in 12 years. For the first time, bear families were included, replacing the Fat Bear Junior contest for cubs. The field featured offspring of former champions as well as newcomers. Backpack narrowly advanced from the semifinals by about 4,100 votes, while 910 won her semifinal by more than 70,000. Though she lost the final, former park ranger and Explore.org naturalist Mike Fitz said she looked impressive for that point in the season, describing her as “a balloon of a bear.” Fat Bear Week also raises money for the Katmai Conservancy.