HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP

Fat Bear Week Unleashes Its Chonkiest Contest Yet

Sixteen bears have spent the summer packing on pounds. Now it’s time for the public to decide which one is the chunkiest.

The bears are big, the stakes are high, and Fat Bear Week is back. The annual contest determines which brown bear in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve has packed on the most impressive amount of poundage ahead of hibernation season. This year’s bracket features 16 bears—up from 12 in 2025—all of them ready to make a strong case for their supreme chonkiness. Voting will begin Tuesday, pause over the weekend, and end Sept. 29. And plenty of people are ready to weigh in: More than 1.7 million votes were cast from across over 100 countries last year. “When you’re voting, consider the challenges of a bear’s life,” Katmai National Park Ranger Sarah Bruce advised. “Trust your gut and go with whatever you think the fattest bear is.” She noted that, for example, single female bears are also helping their cubs bulk up for the long winter ahead. Before-and-after photos reveal the truly jaw-dropping transformation the ursines undergo, with some adult males going from 600-pound summer bears to 1,000-plus-pound fall units.