Overview
- The 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket was released and voting begins Sept. 22 with daily windows through Sept. 29 for fans to choose which of 16 bears bulked up most for winter.
- Organizers expanded the field to include five mother-and-cub families, subadults, single adult females and five adult males, with defending champion Bear 32 “Chunk” seeking to repeat his 2025 win.
- This season’s contest is grounded in biology: Katmai officials and naturalists say summer hyperphagia—intense feeding, especially on salmon—builds the fat reserves bears need to survive months of winter torpor.
- Livecams and ranger coverage this summer recorded stark events that shaped public attention, including a July livestream capture of a cub killed by Bear 806 and a mid‑July separation and later reunion of a cub with Bear 132.
- Fat Bear Week doubles as outreach and fundraising: viewers can watch Explore.org livecams, join ranger talks, and donate to the Katmai Conservancy Otis Fund with explore.org matching gifts through Oct. 3.