Overview
- Organizers declared bear 89 “Backpack” the 2026 Fat Bear Week winner after a close final, crowning the roughly 20-year-old male known for his calm fishing style.
- This year’s contest expanded from 12 to 16 entries and for the first time included family groups, a change organizers said increased public interest.
- Fans cast far more votes than in prior years, reports suggest totals exceeded 2.5 million, and early voting traffic briefly overwhelmed the event’s website and forcing an extended window.
- Backpack is estimated to weigh about 1,000 to 1,200 pounds after gorging on sockeye salmon, which is the seasonal feeding that lets bears store fat to survive five to eight months of hibernation.
- Organizers and partners are using the heightened attention to drive donations and public education about Katmai’s long-term bear monitoring and the wider conservation issues that affect salmon runs and bear survival.