Backpack, a 20-year-old brown bear known for his pacifist nature and childhood habit of riding his mother’s back, won Fat Bear Week 2026 on Tuesday night. The contest at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve drew more than 2.3 million votes after an initial surge crashed the website.
How Backpack Claimed the 2026 Fat Bear Crown
Bear 89, widely known as Backpack, clinched the heavyweight title in a remarkably close final round against fellow finalist Bear 910. Backpack secured 103,334 votes, while his opponent finished close behind with 98,253 votes. The single-elimination tournament featured 16 brown bears vying for the championship across a week of intense online voting.
Sarah Bruce on Backpack and the 2012 Livestream Cameras
Park ranger Sarah Bruce noted that Backpack’s loyal following helped propel him through the brackets. Backpack has a large following of loyal fans who have watched him grow up on the park’s livestream cameras since they were installed in 2012. He's one of the bears that we've been able to watch on the live cams since the live cams were put in in 2012,
Bruce said. He's a familiar bear. People have watched him his whole life.
A Lifelong Journey From Injury to Heavyweight Champion
Backpack is the son of Holly, a Katmai legend who won the online competition in 2019. He earned his iconic nickname as a first-year cub by climbing onto his mother’s back. Official statements, records, court filings, police/agency releases, or named local authorities and Explore.org highlighted the fierce final round of the weeklong contest to see who is the chunkiest bear at Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska.
The nonprofit running the longstanding contest announced that the bear, known for his pacifist nature, was the winner Tuesday with more than 100,000 votes, giving him a close win over Bear 910 with just over 50% of the poll. The contest, which is in its 12th year, celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies.
Brooks Falls and Katmai National Park and Preserve
Instead of brawling for prime fishing spots at Brooks Falls, Backpack relies on a stoic presence. The annual, March Madness-style online voting tournament celebrates the brown bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve as they bulk up for winter.
For the bears, there was no campaigning. No strategy meetings. No polling. Just bears doing what bears do best: eating, fishing, napping, more eating, and getting gloriously chunky,
the NPS wrote on social media. And now, two bears who had absolutely no idea they were competing in a massive online bear contest are your final contenders. Two bears. One crown. May the fattest bear win.
Why Voting Had to Be Extended After the Internet Broke
Public enthusiasm for the annual contest reached unprecedented heights this season. Katmai officials reported that the expanded 16-bear bracket and intense early voting broke the internet as people logged on to vote for their favorite bear. Officials say more than 2.3 million votes were cast this year from all over the world.
Katmai National Park & Preserve and America’s 250th Anniversary
Your votes, your posts, your favorite bear campaigns, and your shared love for Katmai's wild places turned this week into a collective story shaped by thousands of voices. It's a reminder that just like America's 250th anniversary, traditions endure because people keep them alive. Park officials additionally noted,This year, we honored resilience in our bears and in our nation, recognizing the landscapes, communities, and shared stories that connect us. Katmai
The annual competition exists to celebrate the resilience of Katmai’s brown bear population as they prepare for winter hibernation. Backpack, a 20-year-old beefy boy, barely edged out the competition to claim the crown in an incredibly close contest.