The Champion of chonk: Backpack takes the 2026 Fat Bear Week crown at Katmai National Park
A bear named Backpack won Katmai's Fat Bear Week by eating salmon and gaining enough weight to win online voting.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Tag: Fat Bear Week
Fans pick ‘Backpack’ as the fattest bear of the season in a tiebreaker vote
Brown bear 89 Backpack wins Fat Bear Week 2026, narrowly beating rival 910 in a fan vote of more than 200,000 votes.
Fat Bear Watch Is Back, and the Contest to Name the Park’s Fattest Bear Has Started
Katmai National Park's Fat Bear Week returns, let the public vote on the fattest bear, with Chunk back to defend his title.
Fat Bear Week Has Begun: These Bears Are Eating Their Way to the Championship
Meet Backpack, Bucky and other chunky bruins in Katmai's Fat Bear Week 2026, a 16-bear tournament of fattened champions.
Alaska’s bear fans return to Katmai National Park for Chunk’s Fat Bear Week title defense
Alaska's Fat Bear Week returns with 16 Katmai bears, including 1,200-pound champ Chunk and rival Gully, in an online bracket contest.
Fat Bear Week 2023 hits its biggest numbers yet as Katmai’s grizzlies feast on salmon
Alaska's brown bears return for Fat Bear Week 2026, a 16-bear bracket where Chunk seeks a repeat amid a record cub boom.