Fat Bear Week has a winner, and his story will melt your icy heart

In inspirational scenes, a gentle giant who triumphed over childhood trauma has claimed one of the most sought-after world titles. Meet Backpack. This year’s winner of Fat Bear Week. The annual contest, now in its 12th year, canvasses the viewers of live video feeds to pick the chonkiest ursine contender in Katmai National Park and Reserve in Alaska, one of the most chilly and remote (yet deliciously salmon-rich) places on Earth. Shorts There were 2,200 brown bears up for the title. Among them was Chunk (officially known as Bear 32, they all have numbers), who weighed in at an estimated 1,200lbs (544kg) to take the 2025 crown. But top spot on the podium isn’t about persuading an enormous, possibly grumpy bear onto some scales. As the rules say, it’s about “exemplifying fatness and success”. Class as well as mass, if you like. After a week of voting it came down to two nepo babies, and a battle of the sexes. Representing the ladies: Bear 910. Does she have a name? The official website does not say. She’s a “large adult female with dark brown fur, a prominent brow ridge, and somewhat short forward-pointing ears”. And yes, she’s single. Though competition organisers Explore.org say she does “attract the desires of many males during the brief bear mating season”, and was courted by bears Walker and Bucky in the early summer. She has a cub, 620. Born in 2016, 910 is the daughter of former Fat Bear Week champion Beadnose. These days she “lives alone and has used the opportunity to fish where and when she wants”, though she particularly loves a waterfall called Brooks Falls. Bear 910 was narrowly defeated in the 2026 Fat Bear Week finals (Photo: C. Loberg/National Park Service via AP) And in the men’s corner: Bear 89. His name is “Backpack”, because in his first year as a cub, back in 2006, he would often climb onto his mum’s back when she swam in the river. But Backpack “knew hardship at an early age”, said naturalist Mike Fitz, the creator of Fat Bear Week. In 2007, somehow, away from the cameras, he got a bad leg injury. Park staff wondered about his chances of survival. “His mobility was greatly impaired, which made him more vulnerable to potential threats posed by other bears, and hindered his ability to keep up with his mother,” Fitz said. “Sometimes people demanded that rangers intervene on his behalf. But intervention might have meant the permanent separation of the family, and removed him from the wild.” His mother (Holly, another former Fat Bear Week champion) rarely left his side. And bears, even cubs, are extraordinarily resilient in the face of pain and injury. He has survived, and clearly thrived, with distinctive “blond ears, light brown fur in early summer, and grizzled brown fur in late summer” – and noticeably fewer battle scars than his peers. Some bears are brawlers who thrive from competition, but not Backpack. Backpack as a cub, before his life-threatening paw injury (Photo: Explore.org/YouTube) Instead he has a penchant for sitting on a rock downstream of the falls, and watching life go by. “This is perhaps an effort to avoid cold water, or simply taking the scene, and consider his options,” Fitz said. “He’ll stand up for himself when necessary but he prefers to use a quiet strength to gain access to preferred fishing spots. “His body size suggests that the strategy works.” Indeed it took him all the way to the Fat Bear Week final, where Backpack was declared the 2026 winner, 103,344 votes to 98,253. EXPLORE MORE ON THE TOPICS IN THIS STORY