Fat Bear Week 2026 Katmai Bears Schedule and Who to Watch
Fat Bear Week turns a simple question into a national event: which brown bear at Katmai National Park has done the most impressive job getting fat before winter?
That sounds funny, and it is. But it is also one of the best wildlife stories in North America. Every fall, the bears of Brooks River arrive on camera as living proof of survival, timing, instinct, and salmon-fueled skill. A lean bear in June can become a round, hulking giant by September. That transformation is the whole point.
We lived in Alaska for 14 years and have been to Katmai’s Brooks Falls twice. It is hard to overstate how special that place feels in person. You step onto platforms above a river full of salmon, hear the falls before you see them, and then there they are: the Brooks Falls Bears fishing, waiting, sparring, parenting, and eating like winter is breathing down their necks.
Fat Bear Week 2026 is the next chapter. Here is the schedule to watch, the bears to know, and how to vote from home.
The Fat Bear Week 2026 schedule
Fat Bear Week is hosted by Katmai National Park and Preserve, in partnership with Explore.org. The exact bracket and daily matchups are released by the official organizers, so use their channels as the final source once voting opens.
That said, Fat Bear Week usually follows a familiar rhythm in late September and early October:
Fat Bear Week event | What happens |
Bear bios and bracket reveal | Katmai and Explore introduce the contenders and publish the voting bracket. |
Opening rounds | Bears face off in head-to-head matchups. The bear with the most votes advances. |
Quarterfinals | The field narrows, and the heavy hitters usually start to collide. |
Semifinals | Fan favorites, defending champions, and surprise contenders battle for the final. |
Championship vote | Two bears remain. The public picks the fattest bear of the year. |
Winner announcement | Katmai crowns the Fat Bear Week champion. |
Voting usually happens during a set daily window on Explore.org. Matchups are simple: compare the bears, think about their summer-to-fall transformation, and vote for the one that best represents successful fattening.
There is also often a junior version featuring younger bears. Do not skip it. Fat Bear Junior gives you a better look at the next generation and makes the main event even more interesting.
How Fat Bear Week actually works
Fat Bear Week is not a beauty contest, even if the internet treats it like a glorious pageant of chunky bears.
The real measure is survival. Brown bears in Katmai must build enough fat to make it through hibernation. They do not eat or drink in the same way during the denning season, so the salmon runs of summer and fall are critical.
A bear’s success depends on several things:
Fishing skill
Access to the best river spots
Size and social rank
Energy spent defending space
Age and experience
Whether the bear is raising cubs
Salmon availability and timing
That last point matters. A bear that controls a premium fishing spot at Brooks Falls can pack on weight fast. A mother with cubs may look less massive than a big adult male, yet her achievement can be just as impressive because she is feeding herself and protecting young bears at the same time.
That is what makes Fat Bear Week so fun. A giant bear like 747 is instantly impressive. A seasoned bear like Otis tells a different story. A mother like Grazer can win hearts with grit, dominance, and the hard work of raising cubs in a place where danger is never far away.
The Katmai bears to know in 2026
The official 2026 competitors come from Katmai and Explore’s current bear profiles and bracket. The best place to confirm the roster is the official Meet the Bears page at Explore.org, where bios are updated as bears return, age, raise cubs, disappear, or become regular camera stars.
Here are some of the names and their numbers from past Fat Bear Weeks.
Bear | Why this bear matters |
128 Grazer | A fierce, highly skilled female and past champion. She is one of the most compelling bears to watch, especially because of her strength as a mother. |
32 Chunk | A huge male with a scarred face and a serious presence. Chunk is often one of the most recognizable bears on the river. |
480 Otis | A legend at Brooks River. Older, patient, and famously efficient, Otis has won multiple Fat Bear Week titles. |
747 | One of the largest bears seen at Brooks River and a former champion. His size alone makes him a permanent threat. |
856 | A dominant adult male with a long history at the falls. When he is present and in good condition, he changes the mood of the river. |
151 Walker | A large, experienced bear that can put on serious weight and draw strong fan support. |
435 Holly | A beloved bear and former champion known for her successful parenting history and steady presence. |
402 | A productive female bear often recognized by long-time watchers for her maternal role at Brooks River. |
503 | A bear with a fascinating backstory, including adoption by Holly as a young bear. |
901 | A younger adult female who has become more familiar to webcam watchers in recent seasons. |
909 | A female bear known to many viewers through her appearances around Brooks River and her family connections. |
910 | Another younger female often discussed by dedicated bear fans tracking the next wave of contenders. |
708 Amelia | A female bear listed in Katmai bear materials and watched by fans who follow family lines and seasonal appearances. |
164 Bucky Dent | A named bear that longtime followers may recognize from Katmai’s bear profiles. |
854 Divot | A bear name that often catches attention because of its distinctiveness and profile history. |
This list is not a substitute for the official 2026 bracket. Bears are wild animals. They do not follow a content calendar. Some return. Some do not appear on camera often. Some show up briefly and vanish into the larger Katmai wilderness.
That unpredictability is part of the charm.
Who to Watch in This Year’s Competition
Every Fat Bear Week has two contests happening at once. There is the biological contest playing out along the Brooks River, where bears race to build the fat reserves they need for winter, and then there is the public vote online.
The biology rewards bears that successfully turn a summer of salmon into the energy reserves needed for hibernation. The public vote can be less predictable. Size certainly matters, but voters also connect with remarkable survival stories, family relationships, fishing skills and bears they have followed for years.
And the 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket has plenty of stories to choose from.
32 Chunk returns as the defending champion
All eyes will be on 32 Chunk, the defending 2025 Fat Bear Week champion.
Chunk had been a major contender for years before finally taking the crown, finishing as runner-up in both 2023 and 2024. His 2025 season became even more remarkable after he suffered a broken jaw, yet continued fishing, gaining weight and ultimately winning Fat Bear Week.
His 2026 season has brought another mystery. Chunk spent much of the summer away from Brooks River before returning in September with an enormous, low-hanging belly.
Where did he spend the summer? What was he eating?
We may never know, but one thing is obvious: Chunk came back fat.
As the reigning champion, he enters the 2026 competition with one of the most recognizable stories in the bracket.
164 Bucky is the young powerhouse to watch
If there is a bear who represents the next generation of Brooks River heavyweights, it may be 164 Bucky.
At roughly nine years old, Bucky is already a large adult male, but he may still have considerable growing ahead of him. Male brown bears can continue adding substantial size as they mature.
Bucky is also developing his own fishing style. He uses an unusual technique around the deep plunge pool beneath Brooks Falls, taking advantage of salmon swimming upward, jumping through the air and even falling from above.
He has also become increasingly willing to challenge other bears for prime fishing opportunities.
That makes his opening-round matchup particularly interesting:
164 Bucky vs. defending champion 32 Chunk.
It is experience versus a rising powerhouse—and one of the matchups to watch closely when voting begins.
903 Gully brings one of the strangest stories in the bracket
Fat Bear Week has no shortage of memorable personalities, but 903 Gully may have one of the most unusual.
Born in 2016 and believed to be a son of former Fat Bear Week champion 128 Grazer, Gully has grown into a large adult male capable of competing for valuable fishing locations at Brooks Falls.
But salmon aren't the only thing that made him famous.
Gully earned his nickname after he began chasing, catching and eating gulls.
Yes, gulls.
He has also been observed sitting on the lip of Brooks Falls in an almost slumped position that Explore.org has compared to Eeyore.
Don't let the posture fool you. Gully has become increasingly dominant as he has matured and represents another member of the younger generation challenging Brooks River's veteran males.
89 Backpack has a story Fat Bear Week fans can love
Then there is 89 Backpack, whose nickname goes all the way back to his childhood.
Backpack is the son of former Fat Bear Week champion 435 Holly. When he was a cub, he became known for climbing onto his mother's back while she swam—making him look like Holly was wearing a little bear backpack.
The name stuck.
Now approximately 20 years old, Backpack is a very different bear.
He has grown into a large adult male, but he isn't known for the level of aggression sometimes associated with Brooks River's biggest males. Instead, he often relies on his size and presence to gain access to fishing opportunities.
That combination of size, longevity and an unforgettable childhood story makes Backpack one of the easiest bears in the 2026 field to root for.
428 Studious carries a Fat Bear Week legacy
Fans of 128 Grazer still have someone very familiar to watch this year.
Meet her daughter, 428 Studious.
Born in 2020, Studious earned her nickname because of the intense concentration she displayed while learning to fish alongside her mother.
Apparently, the lessons worked.
Despite being smaller than many bears competing for fishing opportunities, Studious has developed into an accomplished fisher—including fishing from the lip of Brooks Falls.
She now enters Fat Bear Week carrying one of the most recognizable family connections in the competition.
Grazer isn't in the 2026 bracket.
But Grazer's daughter is.
806 and Biggie may have the most unusual family story
One of the most fascinating stories at Brooks River this year belongs not to a single bear, but to a family.
806 is raising her biological spring cub alongside another bear many viewers already know: Biggie.
Biggie is the approximately 2½-year-old offspring formerly associated with 128 Grazer. After separating from Grazer, Biggie was accepted into 806's family.
Adoption among brown bears is unusual, which makes watching Biggie travel, feed and interact with 806 and her spring cub especially fascinating.
Wild bears do not fit neatly into human ideas of heroes and villains, however. Earlier in the summer, 806 also killed the remaining cub of 909.
It is a powerful reminder that the bears of Katmai are wild animals navigating survival, competition, motherhood and opportunity—not characters following a script.
132 and her three cubs are the reunion family
132 arrived at Brooks River this year with three spring cubs, but the family's summer took a frightening turn when one disappeared.
For several days, the cub was missing.
Then something remarkable happened.
The cub reunited with its family.
132 is already an experienced mother, and the reunion gives her family one of the most memorable stories in this year's competition.
For viewers who love following Katmai's mothers and cubs, 132 and her three youngsters will be a family to remember.
901 and her surviving cub tell another story of resilience
901 began the 2026 season with two spring cubs, but one disappeared in June.
Her remaining cub continued to grow—and by late summer had become one of the largest cubs seen at Brooks River this year.
901 also comes from a recognizable Brooks River family. She is the daughter of 284, who is competing this year with two spring cubs of her own.
That means Fat Bear Week viewers can follow multiple generations of the same bear family in the 2026 bracket.
Don't overlook Marshmallow
Sometimes a name is simply perfect for Fat Bear Week.
131 Marshmallow was born in 2018 and has steadily improved her ability to take advantage of Brooks River's salmon buffet.
This September, Explore.org reports that she appears proportionally fatter than she has in previous years.
For a competition celebrating successful weight gain before hibernation, that's exactly what you want to hear.
Marshmallow may not have the championship history of Chunk or the famous family connection of Studious, but she embodies what Fat Bear Week is really celebrating:
A wild brown bear successfully preparing for winter.
The 2026 Field Is About More Than the Biggest Bear
That is what makes this year's competition so interesting.
You have 32 Chunk, the defending champion. You have rising males such as 164 Bucky and 903 Gully challenging established bears like 151 Walker. You have former champions represented through their offspring, including 428 Studious, 89 Backpack, 909 and 910.
And then there are the families.
132, 284, 610, 806 and 901 enter the bracket with cubs and stories that demonstrate just how complicated—and sometimes unforgiving—life can be for brown bears in Alaska.
Fat Bear Week isn't simply a contest to determine which bear looks biggest.
It is a celebration of survival, successful feeding and the extraordinary ecosystem that allows the brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve to become very, very fat.
And in Fat Bear Week, fat means success.
The best take on 2026 is that story may beat size again
The biggest bear does not always make the best Fat Bear Week champion.
A truly great Fat Bear Week winner usually has three things:
A visible transformation from early season to fall
A clear survival story
A fan base that can explain why the bear deserves it
That is why the 2026 competition feels open even before the bracket is final. A giant adult male will always be dangerous in the vote. But a mother bear that successfully raises cubs while gaining enough weight for winter can make an even stronger case.
That tension is the fun of the event. Fat Bear Week, Alaska wildlife, and the Brooks River webcams combine into something rare: a public vote that is silly on the surface and genuinely educational underneath.
You come for the fat bear memes. You stay because you start recognizing individual animals, noticing behavior, and caring about salmon runs, habitat, and national parks.
How to participate in Fat Bear Week 2026
You do not need to be in Alaska to enjoy the event. Most people follow along from home through Explore.org’s live bear cams and the official voting pages.
Here is the simple version:
Watch the live cams from Brooks River and Brooks Falls.
Read the official bear bios before voting.
Compare each matchup carefully.
Vote during the posted voting window.
Follow Katmai National Park and Explore.org for updates.
Share your pick, especially if you can explain the bear’s story.
A good Fat Bear Week vote is not just “that bear is huge.” Look for change. Look for context. Was the bear raising cubs? Did it fish efficiently? Did it gain a lot after arriving thin? Did it hold a prime spot at the falls?
The more you watch, the better the bracket gets.
Visiting Brooks Falls in person is unforgettable
Seeing the bears online is wonderful. Seeing them in person is something else entirely.
Katmai is remote. There are no roads from Anchorage to Brooks Camp. Most visitors arrive by small plane, often with a floatplane segment. Weather can change plans. Lodging is limited. Day trips are possible from places like King Salmon, but nothing about the trip feels casual.
It is also not a budget vacation.
Still, Brooks Falls is one of those rare travel experiences that can live in your memory for decades. Standing on the viewing platform while brown bears fish below you feels almost unreal. The sound of the water, the smell of the river, the sudden splash of a salmon, and the quiet excitement among visitors all build into something you cannot get from a screen.
If you are thinking about going, plan early and be flexible. Katmai rewards patience.
For our full first-hand planning notes, start with this guide to visiting Brooks Falls in Alaska.
Fat Bear Week 2026 FAQ
When is Fat Bear Week 2026?
Fat Bear Week usually takes place in late September or early October. The official 2026 dates and daily matchups should be confirmed by Katmai National Park and Explore.org. See our webpage for more info!
Where do I vote for Fat Bear Week?
Voting is hosted through Explore.org during the official voting windows. Each matchup lets you choose between two bears, and the winner advances.
Do the bears know they are competing?
No. The bears are simply living their lives and preparing for winter. Fat Bear Week is a human celebration of their seasonal survival.
Can I visit Brooks Falls during Fat Bear Week?
You can visit Katmai during the bear-viewing season if you have the right reservations and transportation, but it takes planning. Brooks Camp lodging and flights are limited, and weather can affect travel.
The bear bracket is fun because the place is real
Fat Bear Week works because it is more than an internet contest. It is a window into Katmai, a place where salmon feed bears, bears shape the river’s story, and fall arrives with real consequences.
Vote for the biggest bear if that is your pick. Vote for the hard-working mother if her story moves you. Vote for the old legend if you believe experience deserves respect.
Just watch closely before you choose. The best part of Fat Bear Week 2026 is not only finding out who wins. It is learning enough about the bears to care.
WHO ARE YOU VOTING FOR?!
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