Fat Bear Week 2026: Here’s how Pacific Northwest residents can vote

Pacific Northwest residents can soon help decide which of Alaska’s famously well-fed brown bears will take home the title in Fat Bear Week 2026.

The annual competition at Katmai National Park and Preserve runs Sept. 22-29, putting brown bears into a bracket as they finish a summer spent eating salmon and building the fat reserves they need for winter.

The contest has become a major online event since beginning in 2014. More than 1.7 million votes were cast from more than 100 countries in 2025, when Bear 32, better known as Chunk, won the championship.

Here’s what to know about Fat Bear Week 2026.

When is Fat Bear Week 2026?

Fat Bear Week runs from Tuesday, Sept. 22, through Tuesday, Sept. 29.

The 2026 bracket was revealed Sept. 18, giving bear watchers their first look at this year’s matchups before voting begins.

There will be no voting over the weekend, according to the National Park Service. The competition returns Sept. 28 with the Final Fat Four before the championship matchup on Fat Bear Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Voting takes place online at FatBearWeek.org.

What is Fat Bear Week?

Fat Bear Week highlights the dramatic changes brown bears undergo as they prepare for winter at Katmai.

The competition places individual bears into head-to-head matchups. The public votes to determine which bear advances through the bracket until one is crowned the Fat Bear Week champion.

The event began in 2014 as Fat Bear Tuesday, a one-day competition on Facebook. The first weeklong Fat Bear Week followed in 2015.

The contest has since attracted an international audience. More than 1.7 million votes were cast from more than 100 countries during the 2025 competition.

Why do Katmai’s bears need to get so fat?

For these bears, adding weight is preparation for winter.

Brown bears rely on stored body fat while denning. The National Park Service says they can lose as much as one-third of their body weight during hibernation.

That makes summer and early fall an important feeding period.

Large bears can add hundreds of pounds before entering their dens. At Katmai, access to salmon provides bears with a calorie-rich food source that helps make those gains possible.

Why are salmon so important to Fat Bear Week?

Brooks River provides an unusually productive place for bears to catch salmon.

Sockeye salmon move into the river beginning in early summer. Brooks Falls can temporarily slow migrating fish, concentrating salmon in an area where experienced bears can catch them.

A single sockeye salmon contains about 4,500 calories, and some Katmai brown bears can eat more than 30 salmon in a day.

Who won Fat Bear Week in 2025?

Bear 32, better known as Chunk, won Fat Bear Week in 2025.

His victory followed an eventful summer. Chunk returned to the Brooks River with a broken jaw, an injury park officials believe may have resulted from a fight with another male bear, although the exact cause isn’t known.

Despite the injury, Chunk continued to eat and gained enough weight to prepare for hibernation.

His victory followed two consecutive championships by Bear 128, known as Grazer, who won Fat Bear Week in 2023 and 2024.

What bears live in Oregon and Washington?

The bears competing at Katmai are brown bears, but wildlife watchers in Oregon will encounter a different species.

Oregon is home to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 American black bears, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Black bears are the only bear species currently living in the state.

Their name can be misleading. Oregon’s black bears can have black, brown, cinnamon, or blond coats.

Washington is also home to black bears, while grizzly bears remain rare in the broader Pacific Northwest outside Alaska and western Canada.

Grizzly bears, which are the same species as Katmai’s brown bears, once lived in Oregon but are no longer found in the state.

Why are Katmai’s bears called brown bears instead of grizzlies?

Brown bears and grizzly bears belong to the same species, Ursus arctos, but the names are commonly associated with where the bears live and what they eat.

Katmai’s bears have access to coastal food sources, particularly salmon. That abundant diet can help them grow considerably larger than many inland grizzlies.

Large male brown bears at Katmai can weigh more than 1,000 pounds in the fall, according to the National Park Service.

Which bears are competing in Fat Bear Week 2026?

The 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket includes 15 entries, ranging from mothers with cubs to some familiar Brooks River bears.

Returning champion 32 Chunk is back after winning Fat Bear Week in 2025. Other competitors include 428 Studious, the daughter of two-time champion 128 Grazer, and 903 Gully, another of Grazer’s offspring.

Several bear families are also competing, including 132 with three spring cubs, 284 with two cubs, 610 with two cubs, and 901 with one cub. Bear 806 is competing with a spring cub and an adopted 2½-year-old cub.

The field also includes 620, 694, 909, 131, 910, 164 Bucky Dent, and 151 Walker.

How can Pacific Northwest residents watch the bears?

The trip from Oregon or Washington to Katmai isn’t necessary to follow the competition.

Explore.org operates live cameras along the Brooks River, including the well-known Brooks Falls camera. The streams allow viewers to watch bears fish, interact, rest, and move through the river system.

September is also one of the better times to watch bear activity along the Brooks River. The National Park Service says bear numbers are generally highest there during July and from early September into mid-October.

Viewers can use the cameras to follow individual bears before deciding which ones to support in the Fat Bear Week bracket.

What is the Fat Bear Week 2026 schedule?

Several online events are planned around this year’s competition.

The Fat Bear Week bracket was revealed Sept. 18. A Fat Bear Week question-and-answer session is scheduled for Sept. 21, followed by the start of voting Sept. 22.

The Final Fat Four compete Sept. 28, followed by the championship on Fat Bear Tuesday, Sept. 29.

A Fat Bear Finale live chat is also scheduled for 1 p.m. Pacific on Sept. 29.

Fat Bear Week is a partnership between Katmai National Park and Preserve, Explore.org, and the Katmai Conservancy.