KING SALMON, Alaska — The 12th annual Fat Bear Week is heading toward its Sept. 29 crowning, with the fattest brown bears of Katmai National Park and Preserve vying for the internet’s most beloved heavyweight title.
Sixteen bears are facing off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament, with fans voting online at fatbearweek.org in head-to-head matchups. The champion will be crowned on Sept. 29. The contest, run by explore.org and the Katmai Conservancy, celebrates the resilience of the preserve’s roughly 2,200 brown bears, who gorge on sockeye salmon returning to the Brooks River to build the fat reserves they need to survive winter hibernation.
Defending champion Chunk — officially Bear 32 — is back to repeat. Chunk’s weight was estimated at 1,200 pounds last year, giving him a narrow victory. Among his corpulent challengers is Gully, known as Bear 903, the offspring of two-time champion Grazer, according to The Associated Press.
“Fat bears are successful bears,” organizers say — a fat bear is one that has mastered the salmon feast well enough to endure months of denning. Fans can watch the contenders on explore.org’s livestream cameras before deciding, and park rangers host educational livestreams throughout the week.
What began in 2014 as a one-day event drawing about 1,700 votes has become a global phenomenon, drawing more than 1.7 million votes in 2025. Donations to the Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund are being matched by explore.org through Oct. 3.