Photo by Jessica Weiller on Unsplash
Bear 89, known to fans as “Backpack,” is officially the champion of Fat Bear Week 2026. The brown bear beat out Bear #910 in the final round of the bracket-style competition, capping off a week of online voting that drew millions of participants from around the globe.
Backpack received 103,334 votes, while the runner-up pulled in 98,253, according to Explore.org, the organization that runs the Katmai livestream cameras. The margin was tight by the standards of a contest that has become one of the most beloved traditions to come out of Katmai National Park in Alaska.
Who Is Backpack?
Backpack is Bear 89, and he is the son of Holly, who herself won Fat Bear Week back in 2019, according to a science news outlet covering the event. The nickname traces back to his cub years, when he had a habit of riding on his mother’s back as the pair moved through the Brooks River, a wildlife and environment publication reported. That early image of a tiny bear clinging to his mother’s back stuck with fans, and the name followed him into adulthood as he grew into one of the river’s most recognizable fishing bears.
His opponent in the final, Bear 910, is a female brown bear who earned her own fan nickname, “Dancing Queen,” for the distinctive head movements she makes while fishing, a public radio station in Alaska reported. Her second-place finish still represents a remarkable showing, falling just over 5,000 votes short of the title in a field that was larger than ever before.
A Record Field and Record Turnout
Sixteen bears competed in this year’s bracket, up from 12 competitors the previous year, a major broadcast news outlet reported. The expanded field meant more rounds, more matchups, and more chances for fans to rally behind their favorites before the bracket narrowed down to the final showdown between Backpack and Bear 910.
More than 2.3 million votes were cast this year from all over the world, a public radio station in Alaska reported, citing officials. That kind of turnout underscores how far the competition has traveled beyond its origins as a niche park service initiative. What began as a modest effort to highlight the bears’ seasonal transformation has grown into a global phenomenon, drawing voters who tune into livestream cameras and track bracket updates the way others follow sports playoffs.
Not every fan favorite made it deep into the bracket this year. Chunk, the defending 2025 champion, lost to Bear #164, nicknamed “Bucky Dent,” in Round 1, Part 2 on September 24, a wildlife and environment publication reported. The early exit of a reigning champion added an unexpected twist to the tournament and opened the door for new contenders like Backpack to claim the spotlight.
Why Fat Bear Week Matters
Fat Bear Week is an annual competition celebrating the transformation of Katmai’s brown bears as they feast on salmon to build fat reserves for winter, the National Park Service said. The bears gather along the Brooks River each summer and fall, gorging on salmon runs to pack on the pounds they need to survive hibernation. The contest, run as a single-elimination bracket, invites the public to compare before-and-after photos of each bear and vote for the one that has made the most dramatic gains.
The event began in 2014, the National Park Service said, and has since become a signature way for the agency to engage the public with the ecology of Katmai National Park. Beyond the lighthearted bracket format, organizers use the competition to explain the science behind bear hibernation, salmon runs, and the delicate balance of the river ecosystem that sustains one of the densest populations of brown bears in the world.
Last year, Bear 32, known as “Chunk,” was crowned champion after receiving almost 100,000 votes, the National Park Service and a Forbes contributor said. That earlier result set the bar for this year’s contest, and Backpack’s total of just over 103,000 votes edged past that benchmark, reflecting both the growing popularity of the event and the expanded roster of competing bears.
For Backpack, the win cements a family legacy tied to his mother Holly’s earlier championship run, linking two generations of Brooks River bears under the Fat Bear Week banner. For Bear 910, the second-place finish and her “Dancing Queen” nickname have already made her a fan favorite heading into future seasons. As the bears now settle into winter dens, the online audience that watched them fatten up along the river will wait nearly a full year before the bracket returns and a new round of Katmai’s famous bears competes for the title.
