Voting is now open for Fats Bear Week 2026

Fats Bear Week is again at Alaska’s Katmai Nationwide Park for 2026 – and so is final 12 months’s champion.Chunk 32, a1,200-pound male brown bear, was noticed on dwell cameras earlier within the month on the park’s southwestern Brooks Falls.

Chunk’s landslide win final 12 months was outstanding, officers say, given the actual fact he had accidents together with a damaged jaw. It stays unknown how his accidents had been sustained.

“His total mandible, certainly one of his canines and his entrance enamel are simply fully damaged,” Katmai Nationwide Park ranger Sarah Bruce informed KTUU Thursday. “That bone is totally damaged and he’s nonetheless in a position to get actually fats. It is a tremendous resilient bear.”

However whether or not Chunk can maintain his crown this season is as much as you because the voting bracket is now open.

“There are extra cubs at Brooks Camp this 12 months than have been seen in a very long time,” Park Superintendent Mark Sturm mentioned in an announcement. “A brand new era of fats bears is taking form, and so they’re off to a powerful begin.”

When is Fats Bear Week?

Chunk’s rivals within the September 22-29 battle royale – the twelfth annual Fats Bear Week – are anticipated to be introduced Friday.

Final 12 months, a dozen furry rivals confronted off in single-elimination brackets for on-line voters, who took half from greater than 100 international locations.

Over 1.7 million votes had been forged by the point the week was over, in accordance with the Nationwide Park Service – a far cry from fewer than 1,700 votes when the competition first began.

There isn’t a precise prize for the bears, however the winner “finest exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears,” officers say on the competition web site.

Why fats bears?

Firstly, why not? Nonetheless Fats Bear Week marks the yearly preparation for the bears’ October and November hibernation interval.

Bears hibernate to preserve power and since meals sources are scarce within the winter.

Throughout summer time and early fall, the bears have to eat a number of meals – like sockeye salmon – to assist them construct up fats reserves for power wanted throughout hibernation. Bears might eat upwards of 200,000 energy every day once they’re stocking up.

Proper now, the bears are at their peak weights. Scientists make educated estimates how a lot they weigh as a result of they don’t wish to disturb the animals.

Grownup females are sometimes smaller than males by as a lot as 50 %.

Roughly 2,200 brown bears dwell in Katmai, which can also be dwelling to moose, wolves, and bald eagles.

How did Fats Bear Week begin?

Fats Bear Week began in 2014 because of Mike Fitz, a former ranger on the 4-million acre park.

Fitz had been searching for a approach to spotlight the immense modifications a bear goes via after seeing two photographs of the identical bear in June and September that had been startlingly totally different.

He and rangers held a one-day occasion, with votes forged on Fb.

The primary full-bodied Fats Bear Week was held October 7-13 of the following 12 months, with its reputation rising since then.

What occurred final 12 months?

Final 12 months, Chunk bested a veteran bear, generally known as “856”, following a slim loss to 128 Grazer – the primary mom bear to clinch the title – in 2024.

Chunk’s loss was probably swayed by historical past with 128 Grazer’s cub.

Chunk attacked the cub after the younger bear slipped over the waterfall and floated into his fishing spot. Grazer fought Chunk however the cub finally died.

How are you going to vote this 12 months?

Votes are forged onfatbearweek.org and voting is open now till September 29.