Fat Bear Week Roars Into View So Fans Can Vote For Favorite Fatties

Fat Bear Week voting takes place Sept. 23-30, 2025. Reigning champion 128 Grazer has a chance for a three-peat.

NPS

Bear fans, rejoice! It’s time for everyone’s favorite fun festivities from the 49^th state: Fat Bear Week is back.

Each fall, Fat Bear Week celebrates some of the biggest brown bears in the world, who make their home at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Thanks to eight free “bear cams” in the Brooks River region of the 4.1-million-acre park, fans from around the world can spend the summer watching bruins bulk up by supping on salmon.

Bears must eat an entire year’s worth of food in less than six months to survive winter hibernation, when they do not eat or drink and lose around a third of their body weight. So by celebrating fat bears, we celebrate their survival.

This year’s competition should be fierce, since it was an “amazing” salmon run this year, according to Matt Johnson, interpretation program manager at Katmai National Park.

“The bears have plenty to eat,” he said. “Being fat for bears is the key to success, survival, adaptability and strength.”

When Is Fat Bear Week?

The park will announce the Fat Bear Week contestants on September 22 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on the Brooks Live Chat channel, and the public can cast daily votes for their favorite heavyweights from September 23-30.

As a precursor to the main event, Fat Bear Junior runs Sept. 18-19. Though naturally these chubby cherubs aren’t as big as adult bears, they have to gain the highest percentage of body weight during the season to survive. The before-and-after photos illustrate the power of packing on the pounds and helps voters appreciate their progress.

“It is very difficult for young bears to survive,” Johnson said. “The deck is stacked against them. Fat Bear Junior draws attention to their plight and fight for survival.”

The Fat Bear Junior champion will go on to compete against adults in Fat Bear Week.

The reigning Fear Bear Week champion — a female (aka sow) numbered 128 and nicknamed Grazer — has reportedly been effective this season at claiming a prime fishing spot under Brooks Falls called “the Jacuzzi” for herself and her cubs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of them is a finalist for Fat Bear Junior — one to watch! Could this be the start of a dynasty?

How Big Are Fat Bears?

While none of the brown bears at Katmai National Park are put on a scale — “No one wants that job,” Johnson quipped — they are recognized as some of the largest in the world.

The bears are 7-10 feet long. Male bears, called boars, start the summer typically weighing around 750 pounds — and by fall, they weigh over 1,000 pounds.

“Big males have access to the best territory,” he said. “Bears can eat 40-plus salmon a day at 5,000 calories each. Number 480 Otis is a record holder for eating salmon. One of our park rangers witnessed him eat 42 salmon in 5 ½ hours — about 240,000 calories.”

Are Brown Bears The Same As Grizzly Bears?

While grizzly bears and brown bears are genetically the same, the difference comes down to where they live and what they eat. Brown bears live in coastal regions and eat seafood, while grizzlies live inland and don’t have seafood as part of their diets, according to Johnson.

“It’s basically surf and turf,” he said. “Grizzly bears are large, but brown bears are generally larger based on their richer diets.”

For example, grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park don’t often weigh more than 900 pounds, while large boars in Katmai National Park and Preserve often weigh over 1,000 pounds, according to the National Park Service.

How To Vote And Participate In Fat Bear Week

It’s easy to vote for your favorite uber-ursine at FatBearWeek.org. You can learn about competitors there and watch the feeding frenzy on the free bear cams at: https://www.explore.org/livecams/brown-bears/brown-bear-salmon-cam-brooks-falls.

Fun fact: volunteers from Fat Bear Week partners Katmai National Park, Explore.org and the nonprofit Katmai Conservancy operate the webcams remotely throughout the summer and fall bear-watching season. Last year, over 11 million people tuned in to watch the beloved bear cams.

What’s New For Fat Bear Week This Year?

As part of Fat Bear Week in the Classroom, educators can request a virtual visit from a park ranger to share bear fun facts and talk about Fat Bear Week and Katmai National Park & Preserve.

Johnson hopes students, teachers and bear-lovers from all walks of life will have fun again this year during Fat Bear Week.

“It warms my heart that so many people — around 11 million from over 100 countries around the world — tune in and care about these bears,” he said. “We delight in watching these bears. It never gets old because each day there are new wonders to behold.”