What is Fat Bear Week – and who will take the crown?

Forget “no carbs before Marbs” and sling out that beach-body-ready routine now that summer’s over, because this week in Alaska there’s no such thing as dieting. Instead, it’s time to pile on the pounds for the 12th annual Fat Bear Week. The annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine is back ahead of their hibernation over winter. By next Friday, 2,200 brown bears that live on the Alaska Peninsula – which extends from the state’s south-west corner toward the Aleutian Islands – will be cut down to just one, who will be crowned the beefiest. Shorts While the United States might be gearing up for midterm ballots that will decide who runs Washington, hundreds of thousands of people were readying to vote on animals gorging themselves in rural Alaska, in what has become a marquee annual event on social media. This year is stacked more than ever with returning champions, a smattering of nepo babies trading off their parents’ legacy, and several scrappy newcomers vying for the crown. The runners and riders Last year’s winner, Chunk – known officially as Bear 32 – is hungry for a repeat. Chunk weighed in at an estimated 1,200lbs (544kg) to finally take the crown in 2025, giving him a narrow victory over his corpulent competition, after being runner-up two years previous. Chunk emerged from his long slumber in April last year when he was spotted taking a stroll on the preserve’s icy patches. He then disappeared from camera for months, only to make a shock reemergence days before the Fat Bear Week bracket was finalised, and earn himself a late inclusion. Perhaps the hefty boy needed some time to get his head in the game before returning to defend his crown. Chunk (pictured), a wild brown bear, will be looking to go back-to-back after winning his first Fat Bear Week title last year (Photo: T. Carmack/National Park Service) The next round of voting sees Chunk face a possible banana peel matchup against Bucky Dent – Bear 164 – a seven-year-old male with a prowess for catching fish. In 2021, the preserve spotted the young star taking a unique approach to hunting by standing at the deepest spot of a plunge pool to catch fish that welled up or fell from the waterfall above. Bucky is the first and only bear on the preserve to be seen using this tactic. Will Chunk go back-to-back or take a loss to the young fishing pro? Whoever wins will have to see off young-gun Gully – aka Bear 903 – who has Fat Bear Week built into his DNA. Gully is the offspring of two-time champion Grazer. Only time will tell whether the young starlet is capable of living up to his mother’s daunting legacy. Returning champions, a few nepo babies and several scrappy newcomers will vie it out to be crowned the beefiest boy on the Alaska Peninsula (Photo: Explore.org/Fat Bear Week) Gully’s match-up for this round, Walker – Bear 151 – finds himself as the perpetual bridesmaid. The veteran has competed in Fat Bear Week since 2018 without ever taking home the top honours. His early career saw him lose out to the unassailable dynasty of Otis – a four-time champion – before Grazer arrived on the scene to hold him off again in 2023 and 2024. With a new crop of talent rapidly emerging, this may be the last time an ageing Walker will have a shot at the top prize. Why the weight? “Fat bears are successful bears,” says Explore, the media organization that helps host the event. They gorge on the abundant salmon that return to the Brooks River starting in late June in order to accumulate fat reserves, sometimes chomping the fish in midair as they make their way upstream to spawn. The bears are piling on the pounds ahead of hibernation after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon (Photo: Guy Runco/AP) Adult male brown bears typically weigh 600 to 900lbs (about 270 to 410kg) in midsummer. By the time they are ready to hibernate after feasting on migrating and spawning salmon – each eats as many as 30 fish per day – large males can weigh well over 1,000lbs (454kg). Females are about a third smaller. During winter hibernation, the bears do not eat or drink and lose a third of their body weight. The bears are not actually weighed – imagine that process. Voters are instead asked to review before-and-after photos of the bears, lean at the start of summer and fattened at the end. Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies. How do I vote? This year’s event features 16 bears chosen by the preserve to face off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. To be featured in the contest, the bears must frequent the area around the river. The voting window has been open since 22 September, and will remain open until 29 September, with the 2026 winner expected to be declared on Friday, 2 October. All voting is done online at fatbearweek.org. The public can watch and judge the bears on explore.org’s livestream cameras before choosing their favourite. In previous years, victory has also been handed over to those bears needing a win more than the others. The live cameras at Brooks Falls captured the moments in 2024 when Grazer’s cub slipped over the waterfall and floated into the fishing spot occupied by Chunk, who attacked and injured the cub. Grazer fought Chunk, but the cub ultimately died. After the dramatic fight, voting fans handed Grazer a victory over Chunk, before he returned in 2025 to take the title.