Katmai National Park launches online voting for Fat Bear Week contestants

Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska will begin online voting for its annual Fat Bear Week on Tuesday, inviting the public to select the bear that has gained the most body fat during the summer salmon run. The contest, which started in 2014 as a one-day event, now includes 16 adult bears and highlights the difficulty mother bears face in building reserves for hibernation and for feeding their cubs.

"The bigger the bear is, the better," said Katmai park ranger Sarah Bruce. "There is no such thing as too fat of a bear; the fatter a bear is, the healthier that bear is."

Bruce noted that this year the competition replaces the previous junior bracket of individual cubs with whole bear families, emphasizing the extra effort required of mothers to gain weight for themselves and their offspring. Bears can nearly double their body weight during the season, with some individuals estimated to reach around 1,400 pounds.

Returning contestants include last year’s winner, known as Chunk, as well as offspring of former champions such as Gully, the son of 2023 and 2024 winner Grazer, and Backpack, the son of 2019 champion Holly. Bruce declined to make predictions, but mentioned that subadult bears, aged three to five years, are often considered underdogs.

Longtime participant Landin Norman, who administers a Facebook group of more than 20,000 members following the event, said the stories of the bears resonate with people because they reflect themes of resilience and family responsibility. He described the voting as a community activity that provides a light-hearted diversion from daily stresses.