{"id":908631,"date":"2026-09-25T03:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T03:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908631\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T03:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T03:10:11","slug":"fat-bear-week-celebrates-animals-resilience-and-chonkiness-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/908631\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat Bear Week celebrates animals\u2019 resilience \u2014 and chonkiness | story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just bear with us on this one<\/p>\n

This one\u2019s for the big boys!<\/p>\n

The 2026 edition of Fat Bear Week officially kicked off on Sept. 22, and you can weigh in to help crown this year\u2019s Titan of Tub.<\/p>\n

For the last 12 years, Katmai National Park in Alaska has organized the contest to declare which of the park\u2019s local bears has bulked up the most for the coming winter. The winner is chosen by public voting online.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s winner of Fat Bear Week was 32 Chunk. He is competing again in 2026. (Image credit: E. Johnston\/National Park Service\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s champion, 32 Chunk, is defending his title against 15 other bears.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The unusual contest has become an internet phenomenon and helps raise awareness about the unique ecosystem of Katmai National Park.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the big deal?<\/p>\n

Fat Bear Week began in 2014 as a one-day event called \u201cFat Bear Tuesday.\u201d Park rangers shared photos of some of the bears on social media and asked followers to vote for the one they thought was the fattest.<\/p>\n

The event was so popular that it was extended to a full week for 2015.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. National Park Service, which runs Katmai National Park, Fat Bear Week 2025 saw 1.7 million votes cast from more than 100 countries.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

A comparison image of 32 Chunk, showing how much weight he has gained over the summer. (Image credit: explore.org, Katmai National Park)<\/p>\n

Mike Fitz, the naturalist who oversees the competition, told CBC Radio\u2019s Calgary Eyeopener that the brown bears that hang around Katmai\u2019s Brooks River are some of the biggest in the world.<\/p>\n

He said they grow to be about 500 kilograms, with the largest sometimes coming close to 600 kilograms.<\/p>\n

But despite the event\u2019s name, Fitz said the contest is about more than weight gain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every year, the park shares the unique stories of the competing bears to give voters a better idea of what the animals go through in order to survive in the wild.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really just about body mass, although you can use that as your voting criteria, if you want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Why do fat bears matter?\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the official Fat Bear Week website puts it, \u201cFat bears are successful bears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bears hibernate, which means they spend the winter sleeping.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The plentiful supply of sockeye salmon in Brooks River helps the park\u2019s brown bears bulk up ahead of hibernation. (Image credit: Guy Runco\/Katmai Conservancy\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n

During this time, they don\u2019t eat or drink and lose about one third of their body weight.<\/p>\n

To prepare for this, they pack on the pounds throughout the fall.<\/p>\n

The Katmai bears\u2019 food of choice for this task is sockeye salmon, a type of fish that spawns from June to October in Brooks River.<\/p>\n

Because the fish are so plentiful in the river, the bears spend most of their time there, which lets park employees see them regularly as they bulk up.<\/p>\n

Fitz said that the annual event showcases \u201cwhat a rich, healthy and wealthy ecosystem looks like and what it can bring to people and wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to weigh in\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want to make your voice heard in the battle of the blubber?<\/p>\n

Voting is open on the official Fat Bear Week website weekdays from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET, until Sept. 29.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The voting bracket for Fat Bear Week 2026. The bear with the lowest number of votes in each round will be eliminated until only one remains. (Image Credit: Sara Wolman\/Explore.org, Katmai National Park)<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s contest has a new category: bear families.<\/p>\n

Fitz said that park rangers have seen about 40 mother bears and cubs around the river \u2014 the most they\u2019ve ever recorded.<\/p>\n

The winner of Fat Bear Week 2026 will be announced on the official website on Sept. 29.<\/p>\n

\ufeff\ufeffHave more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we’re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n

With files from The Associated Press, CBC Radio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just bear with us on this one This one\u2019s for the big boys! The 2026 edition of Fat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-908631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}