- Fat Bear Week 2026's semifinals are set — the champion is crowned tomorrow, September 29, after voting closes.
- Defending champion Bear 32 "Chunk" was dumped out in round one by Bear 164 "Bucky," a former cub from Grazer's first litter.
- Bear 132's mother-cub duo faces Bear 910 in one semifinal; 164 Bucky meets Bear 89 "Backpack" in the other.
- This year's bracket expanded to 16 bears, with a special focus on families — and voters decide everything on explore.org's live bearcams.
There's no better September tradition on the internet. Fat Bear Week 2026 is down to the final four, and this year's edition of the world's most wholesome competition has already delivered the biggest upset in recent memory: defending champion Bear 32 "Chunk" is out.
The chunky king — roughly 1,200 pounds of salmon-fueled dominance, famous for fighting through a broken jaw to win last year — lost his opening matchup to Bear 164 "Bucky," the son of beloved 2023–24 champion Bear 128 "Grazer." The bear that ended the king's reign is, fittingly, one of Grazer's first cubs, who was famously kicked out of the family den as a youngster and had to figure life out alone.
The Final Four
Voting opened September 22 and closes tomorrow, September 29, when the champion is crowned. The semifinal matchups: Bear 132 and her spring cubs — the fan-favorite mother-cub duo — take on Bear 910, while 164 Bucky faces Bear 89 "Backpack," the offspring of 2019 champion Holly.
This year's tournament expanded from 12 to 16 bears, and organizers leaned into a family theme. Alongside Bucky, the bracket featured Bear 903 "Gully" — believed to be Grazer's son — and the 132 family was voted in through the fan "fat bear junior" poll. Past champions whose names live in fat-bear lore include four-time winner 480 "Otis," 2019's Holly, 2020 and 2022's 747, and 2023–24's Grazer.
Why It Matters (and Why It Works)
Fat Bear Week isn't just a meme. It's the National Park Service and explore.org's way of spotlighting the critical pre-hibernation feeding season on Alaska's Brooks River, where brown bears gorge on salmon to pack on the weight that gets them through winter. The whole tournament runs on live bearcams, and voters pick the bear who made the most dramatic transformation — the one that's done the most to become truly, gloriously fat.
With searches for the event surging on both sides of the Atlantic this week, the final push of voting could set records. Get your vote in at explore.org's Fat Bear Week page before the brackets close — the crown gets handed out tomorrow.
Sources: Katmai Conservancy — Fat Bear Week bracket · Economic Times — Chunk returns to defend title, 16 bears compete · Popular Science — Fat Bear Week day 1 competitors