Meet ‘Backpack’, the new winner of Alaska’s Fat Bear Week

Bear 89, affectionately nicknamed Backpack, successfully ate his way past rival ursine Dancing Queen to snatch the title by 5,000 votes.

He is big, he is chunky, and he is this year’s winner of Alaska’s Fat Bear Week.

Voting for the annual Fat Bear Week began on September 22 and concluded on September 29. A little over 2.5 million votes were cast overall, and more than 200,000 were recorded in the finals round.

Throughout the week, the public watched and admired brown bears at Alaska’s Katmai National Park as they gorge themselves on wild salmon in preparation for hibernation.

Hefty runs in the family

In the end, it seems a nepo baby came out on top.

“He got it from his mama,” the US Department of the Interior posted on social media platform X when it announced the champion for the 2026 tournament.

According to the department, Backpack’s mother, Holly the “Duchess of Density”, was crowned winner of Fat Bear Week in 2019. She was supposed to win again in 2022, but a vote-rigging scandal knocked her out of the race.

Nevertheless, Backpack’s victory proves that “hefty runs in the family,” the Interior Department wrote, anointing 89 the “Lord of Lard, Earl of Girth and Commander in Beef”.

Who is Backpack?

While formally named Bear 89, Katmai park rangers gave 20-year-old Backpack his nickname due to his habit of climbing on her mother’s back as a cub.

A serious leg injury in 2007 left Backpack with a limp, but the strong-willed bear adapted his lifestyle, as he is often seen lounging on his favorite rock by Brooks River instead of fighting with his fellow bears.

“He’s one of the bears that we’ve been able to watch on the live cams since the live cams were put in in 2012,” said Katmai park ranger Sarah Bruce, adding that Backpack — now weighing a whopping 1,200 pounds or 544 kilograms — benefitted from his large fanbase.

“He’s a familiar bear. People have watched him his whole life,” she noted.

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What is Fat Bear Week?

Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating the success of brown bears residing in Katmai National Park, Alaska, to fatten up ahead of their winter hibernation.

Every year, from summer to early autumn, the bears of Katmai will eat as much wild salmon as they want to bulk up. They will then spend five long months without eating or drinking as they protect themselves from the harsh Alaskan winter.

Fans of Fat Bear Week are given the chance to cast their votes on the explore.org website, where before and after photos of each bear can be viewed for reference.

Ultimately, the goal of Fat Bear Week is to raise awareness about brown bears and their Alaskan habitats.

“They have already won in the fact that they are set to survive another winter hibernation. They win all of the love,” said Bruce.

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