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    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTFat Bear Week Is Back. Meet Some of Our Favorite Contenders.Call them fat. Call them corpulent. Call them rotund. The bears are back in town and bigger than ever.Listen \u00b7 9:24 min Share full articleOpen modal at item 1 of 3Open modal at item 2 of 3Open modal at item 3 of 3C. LobergBy Madison Malone KircherSept. 22, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Call them fat. Call them corpulent. Call them rotund, portly, Rubenesque or chunky. Whatever adjective you like, the bears are back in town and as big as ever.In what has become a marquee annual event, the popular contest that celebrates feeding season at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska returns this week.What started as a one-day occasion in 2014 is now a must-see, weeklong event for bear lovers who vote in a March Madness-like bracket until the one, true fat bear to rule them all is crowned. Viewers watch a livestream of brown bears feeding at Brooks Falls, a salmon run in the park, in preparation for winter hibernation. They make their selections based on biographies of the animals and photos showing how much weight they gained from summer to fall. In recent contests, over a million votes have been cast each year.\u201cThis bracket is full of very well-deserving contenders,\u201d said Mike Fitz, a former park ranger and resident naturalist at Explore.org, the media organization that helps host the event, known as Fat Bear Week. He added that organizers had expanded the event this year to include more contenders. The week also serves as a fund-raiser for the Katmai Conservancy.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cWe wanted to showcase more stories of bears, especially mothers and cubs,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cWe saw more bear families at Brooks River this year than had ever been recorded previously; 19 bear families as of last count with 37 cubs in total.\u201dThis year, the field is stacked with contestants including a returning champion, a few nepo babies and several scrappy newcomers. Here are some favorites.June 27 vs. Sept. 8Credit...C. Loberg; Explore.org89 BackpackSpecsA \u201cmedium-large adult male\u201d bear, 89 Backpack has blond ears and fur that went from light to dark brown over the summer. He overcame a leg injury in 2007 that had park staff workers and visitors wondering if he would survive. He was described as having a \u201cquiet toughness.\u201dWhy This Bear Should WinNaomi Boak, a former communication specialist for the Katmai Conservancy who was a producer for the event for several years, said she was thrilled to see that 89 Backpack had finally earned a spot in the bracket. (To be considered, bears must be photographed at the beginning and end of the season, and Backpack can be \u201celusive,\u201d Boak said.) Watching that particular bear on the livestream camera in 2019 from her apartment in Harlem inspired her to move to Alaska and get involved with the bears.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cHe\u2019s a gentleman bear,\u201d Boak said in an interview. \u201cHe knows his place in the river and avoids fights.\u201dFun FactHe\u2019s a nepo baby. His mother, Holly, was a Fat Bear Week champion, and his name comes from childhood, when Backpack was often seen clinging to Holly\u2019s back while she swam across the river.June 28 vs. Sept. 14Credit...Explore.org; C. Loberg32 ChunkSpecsAs his name might imply, 32 Chunk is a big boy. Last year, he weighed in at over 1,200 pounds. (That\u2019s about the same as a particularly heavy concert grand piano, for scale.) He\u2019s got a notable scar on his muzzle and a distinct canine tooth that sticks out.Why This Bear Should WinHe\u2019s the defending champion and was the runner-up in 2024. Last year, 32 Chunk\u2019s story was one of perseverance in the face of adversity. He arrived at the river in June with a broken jaw, believed to be the result of a fight with another bear. He had to be savvy about picking his fishing spots, but his large size, even with an injury, helped him score.His body size alone ensured a high rank in the hierarchy and good access to productive fishing spots. The 2025 salmon run was exceptionally abundant in Brooks River too, giving him ample opportunity to satisfy his hunger with ease.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTFun Fact\u201cThere\u2019s mystery involved with his story this year, because he was absent from Brooks River for much of the summer,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cIn some years past, we\u2019ve seen Chunk nearly every day from late June until now. He showed up a couple of times in the early summer, just for like a day or two, and then he was just gone. He came back in September and he\u2019s looking really good. Obviously he was eating well somewhere else, but we don\u2019t know where that was.\u201dJuly 5 vs. Sept. 3 Credit...T. Hunt; T. Carmack428 StudiousSpecsShe\u2019s a 6-year-old female bear known for her blond coat and petite muzzle. Her mother is 128 Grazer, a Fat Bear Week legend and former winner. (Another nepo baby. A nepo bearby!)Why This Bear Should WinHer nickname derives from the way, as a cub, she would carefully observe her mother catching fish to master the skill herself. \u201cShe started catching fish on the lip of the falls as a yearling,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cShe\u2019s not the first bear to do it, she\u2019s not the last bear to it, but that\u2019s not something that a bear at that age typically does.\u201dFun FactBecause of her famous mother, who was known to be particularly defensive around other bears, 428 Studious had \u201caccess to prime fishing spots at Brooks Falls that are unavailable to most cubs,\u201d according to her bio.June 27 vs. Sept. 9Credit...C. LobergAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT164 BuckySpecs\u201cHe is not even 10 years old, but he\u2019s a really big guy for his age and he still has some growing to do,\u201d Fitz said of this adult male. He can be identified by a \u201cline of darker fur near his eyes on his upper muzzle,\u201d according to Explore.org.Why This Bear Should WinHe clearly wants it. \u201cBucky has also shown a tendency to challenge other bears for dominance, even when no fishing spot is in dispute,\u201d his bio says.Fun FactHe\u2019s quite powerful for his age, Fitz said, adding that 164 Bucky will face off against 32 Chunk in the first round of the bracket. The two are rivals in real life, he added. \u201cI\u2019m curious to see where that match goes,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cI really have no idea at this point. Sometimes I can predict them and it\u2019s getting increasingly difficult to do that.\u201dJuly 11 vs. Sept. 9Credit...T. Hunt; C. Loberg131 MarshmallowSpecsSpot this bear by her toasted marshmallow-esque coloring and the dark rings around her eyes.Why This Bear Should WinShe\u2019s a looker. \u201c131 was one of those cubs that really stood out when she was young,\u201d Fitz said, describing her as the sort of specimen that makes one say, \u201cWow, that is a pretty bear.\"Fun FactWhile she hasn\u2019t had any cubs yet, this may change in the not-too-distant future. \u201cShe appears this September to be proportionally fatter than she has ever been,\u201d Explore.org said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTJuly 8 vs. Sept. 5Credit...C. Loberg; T. Carmack610 and CubsSpecsThis female bear is small but mighty. Her calling card is a scar near her hips.Why This Bear Should WinShe had a rough childhood after her mother apparently abandoned her at a young age. \u201cI first saw her as a young bear in 2015 and small at the time,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cIt looked like she could have been a yearling and she was just on her own.\u201d She appeared to have been wounded in an attack \u2014 hence the scar \u2014 and managed to survive, and thrive, despite the odds stacked against her.Fun Fact\u201cThis year she came back with two spring cubs; this was her first known litter,\u201d Fitz said.July 2 vs. Sept. 9Credit...T. Hunt; C. Loberg910SpecsThis dark brown female bear has a prominent brow line and \u201csomewhat short forward-pointing ears,\u201d according to her bio. She is the daughter of a former Fat Bear Week victor, 409 Beadnose.Why This Bear Should WinIn 2023, 910 adopted her niece, 609, and raised her alongside her own biological cub. She\u2019s \u201ca balloon of a bear,\u201d Fitz said. \u201cShe looks really great for at this time of the year, and that fat is going to be necessary for her if she gives birth in the den. She\u2019s not only eating for her own survival, she\u2019s going to need to nurse her cubs through the rest of her hibernation cycle and into the middle and late spring period when there\u2019s very little food for bears to eat in Katmai.\u201dFun FactHer sister, 909, is also competing this year. A sibling rivalry!From the commentsBBoutelouaNew MexicoI love Fat Bear week. Some days it seems like it's one of the few good things left in this world. Also, go Chunk!Madison Malone KircherInternet Culture Reporter@Bouteloua Agreed, a delightful convergence of conservation awareness and plain ol' joy. It would certainly be fun to watch Chunk snag back to back wins, but I must admit that I am rooting for Marshmallow.NNickKelowna, B.C.This year\u2019s contest is so popular that Explorers.org\u2019s Fat Bear Week page has been down today!My wife is trying to vote.Madison Malone KircherInternet Culture Reporter@Nick If you're in line to vote for your favorite bear, stay in line to vote for your favorite bear!AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-22T15:13:54+00:00",
    "author_name": "Madison Malone Kircher",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
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    "ai_headline": "Fat Bear Week Is Back. Meet Some of Our Favorite Contenders.",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Fat Bear Week Returns to Katmai National Park",
    "ai_excerpt": "Fat Bear Week, an annual contest celebrating bears at Katmai National Park, returns with a March Madness-like bracket. Viewers vote for their favorite bears based on weight gain and biographies, with over a million votes cast annually. This year features returning champions, 'nepo babies,' and newcomers.",
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