Fat Bear Week returns as Katmai’s heavyweight champions bulk up for hibernation.
Fat Bear Week, the annual competition celebrating the heftiest grizzlies of Katmai National Park, has opened its 2025 season with a line-up of contenders vying for the public vote.
Now in its 11th year, the online bracket contest showcases the park’s brown bears as they prepare for winter hibernation by bulking up on sockeye salmon from the Brooks River. From September 23 to 30, the public will vote round by round for the bear that achieves what organisers call “peak spherical status.”
Last year’s champion, Grazer (Bear 128), secured her second consecutive title with more than 71,000 votes—double her closest rival, a male known as Chunk. Other past winners include Bear 747, who took the crown in 2020 and 2022, and Bear 480 Otis, a fan favourite who claimed the 2021 title.
The competition is preceded by Fat Bear Junior, held September 18–19, which highlights the year’s most promising cubs.
“From tubby titans to gargantuan gluttons, get ready to cheer for the heftiest bears in Katmai,” the U.S. National Park Service said in a launch announcement.
Fat Bear Week began in 2014 as a way to highlight the park’s ecosystem and the salmon runs that sustain it. It has since become a global social media phenomenon, drawing hundreds of thousands of votes from around the world each year.
For the salmon in Alaska’s rivers, the contest is less festive—every bulked-up bear is built on the back of a strong run. For Katmai’s tourism economy, though, it is a flagship event, bringing international attention to both the bears and the fisheries that support them.
The bear bios for 2025 are due to be released later this month.
