'Backpack,' a 'Nepo Baby' Bear, Crowned New Fat Bear Week Champion

Bear 89, known as "Backpack," has been officially crowned the champion of Fat Bear Week 2026, prevailing in a public vote for the bear that best bulked up for winter hibernation. The competition, held at Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska, saw Backpack, a brown bear noted for his gentle demeanor, secure 103,334 votes in the final round. He narrowly defeated his opponent, Bear 910, who received 98,253 votes.

Backpack, approximately 20 years old, earned his nickname as a cub for frequently riding on his mother Holly's back through the Brooks River. His victory continues a family legacy, as his mother Holly was also a Fat Bear Week champion in 2019. Similarly, his final competitor, Bear 910, also boasted a lineage of champions, with her mother being two-time winner Beadnose.

Fat Bear Week, now in its twelfth year, serves to highlight the resilience of the brown bears at Katmai National Park as they prepare for winter. The bears gorge themselves on sockeye salmon in the Brooks River to accumulate the necessary fat reserves to survive hibernation. Backpack's win was particularly celebrated by fans who admired his "quiet strength" and preference for peaceful fishing over aggression.