Fat Bear Week 2025 bracket unveiled as Katmai bears vie for title

Fat Bear Week 2025 is underway, with an 11-bear bracket released from Katmai National Park as online voting opened this week to crown the season's fattest bear from Brooks River. The event, born in 2014 as a one-day online showcase, has grown into a global phenomenon that draws more than a million votes annually. This year’s field blends enduring champions with rising contenders, giving fans a window into the bears’ annual ritual of fattening up before a long, food-scarce winter.

Bears at Katmai gorge on the park’s salmon runs in autumn to build energy reserves for hibernation, when they can shed as much as a third of their body weight. Adult males typically tip the scales at 700 to 900 pounds by late summer, with some surpassing 1,200 pounds; females are smaller, often about one-half to one-third the size of the males. Brooks River’s famed salmon stream and the accompanying livestreams have become the backdrop for a public education moment about brown bear foraging, competition, and energy balance in a seasonally driven ecosystem.

Among the notable entrants is Chunk, one of the park’s heaviest males who arrived this summer with a freshly broken jaw from a likely fight but has continued to hold his place at prime fishing spots. The 901 bear, a golden-brown female, is in prime condition and viewed as a strong contender for another potential litter in the future after a 2023 loss. Other established bears in the field include 26, a medium-sized female with grizzled fur who endured the loss of her first litter in 2023, and 32, the scarred heavyweight whose mark this season speaks to repeated showdowns at the falls. The rising star 99 has grown from the river’s edge to belong among the top scouts of the salmon run, while 128, known as Grazer, is a battle-tested mother raising a third litter and is backed by back-to-back Fat Bear titles from 2023 and 2024.

The field also features 503, a gentle bruiser adopted as a cub by 435 Holly, who has developed a social streak and steers rival threats with muzzle touches rather than brute force. Another notable entry is 602, nicknamed the floatato for spending the summer lounging along Brooks from early July through September, a posture that nonetheless contributed to a substantial mass gain. 609, nearly five years old, spent more time learning from family before striking out on her own and has drawn attention for her size and skill. The elder statesman 856 remains a patient tactician in the river, while 909 carries the Beadnose lineage as the daughter who has adapted with bold fishing moves after a litter loss this spring.

Finally, 910, the sister bear to 909, has also shown strong conditioning and independence this season, though the bracket focuses on 11 bears rather than families. The Brooks River, long described as one of the world’s greatest salmon runs, provides the stage for this annual public tradition that blends wildlife biology with a communal watching culture and a touch of sportsmanship in its bracket-style competition. Scientists say the event offers an accessible lens into brown bear energy budgets, reproductive strategies, and the ways in which salmon abundance shapes social dynamics in a wildlife population.

Voting in Fat Bear Week runs from the bracket’s unveiling through September 30, with the eventual winner crowned in an online finale. Fans can explore bear profiles, photos, and live feeds to compare contenders and make their selections. The event’s enduring appeal lies in its blend of scientific curiosity and public engagement, turning a natural autumn ritual into a global conversation about wildlife adaptation, habitat, and the rhythms of Alaska’s most iconic predator species.