Fat Bear Week 2026 Expands to 16 Bears Amid Cub Boom

Katmai's 12th annual Fat Bear Week opens with its biggest bracket ever, 16 bears instead of 12, after a record 37 cubs were counted at Brooks River.

The 2026 Fat Bear Week bracket dropped on Friday, and for the first time the single-elimination tournament features 16 competitors, up from 12 in recent years. The 12th annual contest, which began in 2014 as 'Fat Bear Tuesday' on Facebook, celebrates Katmai National Park's brown bears as they pack on fat for hibernation. Public voting opens Tuesday, Sept. 22, pauses over the weekend, and a new champion is crowned on Sept. 29.

Superintendent Mark Sturm said there are 'more cubs at Brooks Camp this year than have been seen in a long time,' adding that 'a new generation of fat bears is taking shape.' NPR reports that former ranger Mike Fitz, now resident naturalist at explore.org, counted 37 cubs at Brooks River, and he credits last year's large salmon run, since well-fed sows are more likely to den with cubs and produce larger litters. More families appear in this year's bracket than ever before.

New faces include Bear 89 'Backpack,' who rode on his mother Holly's back as an injured cub, and dominant male 151 Walker. USA Today's contender gallery highlights Bear 806, raising her spring cub alongside an adopted youngster called Biggie, and Bear 909, preparing for hibernation after losing her litter.

The bears are in hyperphagia, a state of relentless hunger that drives them from roughly 600 pounds in early summer to more than 1,000 pounds by fall. Katmai hosts the world's last great salmon run, with tens of millions of salmon returning to the region each year and some 2,200 brown bears across the park's 4.2 million acres. 'Without salmon, there would be no Fat Bear Week,' Fitz said, calling the fish the keystone of the ecosystem.

Last year's contest drew more than 1.7 million votes from over 100 countries, and organizers hope the event continues to carry a conservation message about brown bears, sockeye salmon and healthy large landscapes. Fans can watch the bears live on explore.org's Brooks River webcams through the week, studying the bracket before voting begins Sept. 22. Ranger Sarah Bruce's advice to voters: 'Trust your gut and go with whatever you think the fattest bear is.'