1,000-Pound Bear Named Backpack is Crowned Fat Bear Week Champion
A brown bear who once hitched rides on his mother’s back has come a long way since his cub days.
Bear 89, better known as Backpack, has been crowned the 2026 Fat Bear Week champion at Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. The annual competition, organized through a partnership between the park, Explore.org, and the Katmai Conservancy, ran from Sept. 22 through Sept. 29, according to Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Backpack defeated Bear 910 in the final round, earning 103,334 votes to her 98,253. More than 2.5 million votes were cast throughout the tournament, according to the official Fat Bear Week results on Explore.org. All the while, the lighthearted event helped support an important environmental cause.
Backpack Has Come a Long Way Since His Cub Days
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Backpack’s nickname dates back to his very challenging early life.
According to Katmai National Park and Preserve, as a cub, Backpack injured a paw and was often seen riding on the back of his mother, Bear 435 Holly. While doing so, he resembled a backpack.
The park first identified him as a 2½-year-old subadult in 2008. Now an adult male, Backpack has a light brown coat that darkens later in the season and a dish-shaped muzzle. He’s also become a familiar presence along the Brooks River, fishing near Brooks Falls during early summer before often moving farther downstream in the fall.
His mother knows something about winning Fat Bear Week, too. Holly was crowned the 2019 Fat Bear Week champion.
Backpack has certainly grown since those early days. Katmai Park Ranger Sarah Bruce estimated that he weighs between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds, according to an interview with Alaska Public Media.
Bruce described Backpack as a “stoic presence” that generally doesn’t disrupt the hierarchy among bears along the river.
Fat Bear Week Celebrates a Successful Survival Strategy
Fat Bear Week may be a lighthearted competition, but the bears’ added weight serves an important purpose. Katmai’s brown bears spend the warmer months building fat reserves for winter, sometimes gaining hundreds of pounds before entering their dens and losing as much as one-third of their body weight during hibernation, according to Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Voting is free, but the event also helps raise money for the park. During this year’s Fat Bear Week, supporters were encouraged to donate to the Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund, which supports education, research, and other work at Katmai. Explore.org matched donations made during the fundraiser.
This year, supporters raised more than $500,000 for the fund, according to the Katmai Conservancy.
Backpack may have taken home this year’s crown, but the millions of people following along also helped support the park he calls home.
