KING SALMON, Alaska — Bear 89, known as “Backpack,” has won Fat Bear Week 2026, the annual online celebration of the brown bears bulking up at Katmai National Park’s Brooks River.
The medium-large adult male defeated Bear 910 by 103,344 votes to 98,253 when online polls closed Tuesday, according to vote totals reported by organizers and covered by USA Today. The 5,091-vote margin came after what park ranger Sarah Bruce called the tightest semifinal race in the event’s 12-year history, against Bear 164, “Bucky.”
Backpack earned his name as a cub riding on his mother Holly’s back — Holly, Bear 435, won the contest in 2019. Rangers describe him as a gentle bear who survived a serious leg injury as a cub, and he is one of two finalists this year who are offspring of past champions.
The weeklong bracket, run by the National Park Service and Explore.org, drew hundreds of thousands of votes from around the world as fans watched the bears fish for salmon on live cameras. The contest celebrates the extraordinary weight the bears must gain to survive months of hibernation, with some adults doubling their body mass before winter.