Govind Tekale
Update (September 22): Voting is now open. This article has been updated with the bracket, voting hours and first-round matchups.
Voting for Fat Bear Week 2026 opened on Tuesday. If you want a say in which Alaska brown bear gets crowned the fattest, you have until September 29. Sixteen bears from Katmai National Park and Preserve are in this year’s bracket, including last year’s champion, Chunk. Here’s how to vote, when polls are open and which matchups to watch.
Fat Bear Week runs from September 22 to 29, 2026. The champion is crowned on Tuesday, September 29. The contest is run by the US National Park Service with Explore.org and Katmai Conservancy.
Sixteen adult brown bears are competing in a single-elimination bracket. Each weekday, fans vote in head-to-head matchups. Voting pauses on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, before the semi-finals on Monday, September 28 and the final on Tuesday, September 29.
The bears live around Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. They spend summer and autumn eating salmon to build fat before winter.
Last year, fans cast more than 1.7 million votes from more than 100 countries, according to the National Park Service.
Here’s what you need to know. Go to fatbearweek.org, pick the bear you think best shows “fatness and success” in preparing for winter, and vote. You can vote once per matchup each day. Polls are open from noon to 9 p.m. Eastern (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Alaska) on voting days. Voting is free and open worldwide, so fans in the UK and Australia can take part. In UK time, polls run from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. BST on voting days. In Sydney, they run from 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. AEST.
Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket and bears to watch
Bear 32, known as Chunk, won in 2025 and is back to defend his title. His first-round matchup against Bear 164 opens on Wednesday, September 23.
Other first-round pairings include Walker against Gully, and Bear 610, a mother with cubs, against Bear 89, known as Backpack. Two four-year-olds, Bear 694 and Bear 620, also meet early. Bear 620 is a small female known for getting through hard times.
Katmai’s superintendent says there are more young bears to watch this year. “There are more cubs at Brooks Camp this year than have been seen in a long time. A new generation of fat bears is taking shape,” said Mark Sturm, park superintendent.
Why Katmai's bears need to get fat
Fat Bear Week is a light-hearted contest, but the fat it celebrates is about survival. Brown bears don’t eat, drink or pass waste during hibernation, which lasts months. The fat they build in late summer and autumn is their only fuel until spring.
Most of that fat comes from salmon. Each summer, sockeye salmon swim up the Brooks River to spawn, and bears gather at the falls to catch them. A healthy salmon run lets a bear pack on enough weight to survive winter. For a mother, it also means enough to feed her cubs.
That ties the contest to the health of the whole river system. The bears depend on the salmon, and the fish depend on clean, connected rivers. The NPS describes the event as a celebration of Katmai’s brown bears and the salmon runs that sustain them.
You can watch the bears live on Explore.org webcams at Brooks Falls. bears, wildlife conservation and national parks coverage for more.
Fat Bear Week 2026 voting is open at fatbearweek.org on weekdays from noon to 9 p.m. Eastern. Voting pauses over the weekend of September 26–27. Sixteen Katmai brown bears are competing, including defending champion Chunk, who meets Bear 164 from Wednesday, September 23. The champion is crowned on September 29. Check back for updates as each round is decided.
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