Backpack wins Alaska's Fat Bear Week 2026 after defeating Bear 910 in final vote

Tournament results and final voting

Bear 89, widely known by his nickname Backpack, was crowned the winner of the 2026 Fat Bear Week on Tuesday evening following the conclusion of public voting. The 20-year-old brown bear secured 103,334 votes in the final matchup, narrowly defeating the female competitor Bear 910, who received 98,253 votes. Organized by Katmai National Park and Preserve in southwestern Alaska alongside the explore.org platform, the single-elimination tournament featured 16 brown bears (ten females and six males) competing over seven days. The twelfth edition of the annual competition drew more than 2.3 million total votes from participants across more than 100 countries, with over 200,000 ballots cast in the championship round alone.

Backpack (Bear 89)103,334

Dancing Queen (Bear 910)98,253

Backpack (Bear 89)

103334 votes

Dancing Queen (Bear 910)

98253 votes

Data from the article text

Profile of the gentle giant

Rangers at Katmai estimate Backpack's pre-hibernation weight between 450 and 550 kilograms (approximately 1,200 pounds). Unlike many large adult males that dominate prime fishing spots through territorial fighting, Backpack has earned recognition from park staff and viewers for his calm temperament and non-confrontational demeanor. He is frequently observed sitting in solitude on his preferred rock downstream on the Brooks River, catching migrating sockeye salmon. Park ranger Sarah Bruce commented on the connection between the animal and the online audience.

“He's a familiar bear. People have watched him his whole life.”

Backpack first arrived at the Brooks River in 2006 as a first-year cub accompanied by his mother, Holly. He earned his moniker during those early months by riding across river currents on her back. After surviving a severe leg injury in 2007, he gained independence from his mother in 2008 and became a fixture on live webcams following their installation in 2012.

Rival contenders and championship lineage

The 2026 bracket featured competitors with previous tournament connections. Backpack's victory follows the 2019 title won by his mother, Holly. The runner-up, eight-year-old Bear 910, is the daughter of 409 Beadnose, who claimed the championship in 2015 and 2018. Bear 910 earned the nickname Dancing Queen from livestream spectators due to her habit of tossing her head back while hunting fish. Defending 2025 champion Chunk (Bear 32), who weighed an estimated 545 kilograms during his victory, was eliminated in the first round by Bucky, who subsequently lost to Backpack. Other participants in the field included a female named Marshmallow and an unnamed mother over 20 years old caring for three cubs.

Ecological role of pre-winter feeding

Fat Bear Week began in 2014 to educate the public about the roughly 2,200 brown bears residing in the Katmai preserve. Starting in late June, thousands of salmon migrate up the Brooks River, creating an abundant food source for coastal bears preparing for winter hibernation. Adult males typically weigh between 270 and 410 kilograms during the summer months, but they enter hyperphagia in the autumn, consuming up to 30 fish daily to amass vital fat reserves. Bears do not eat or drink during their months-long winter dormancy, during which they can lose up to one-third of their total body mass.