The National Park Service has announced dates for Fat Bear Week 2025, the annual public voting contest that celebrates the brown bears of Katmai National Park & Preserve as they fatten for winter hibernation. Organizers said the bracket-style competition will run from Sept. 23–30, with a junior event, Fat Bear Junior, scheduled for Sept. 18–19.
The park service began this season’s promotion Sept. 5 by highlighting past winners and teasing this year’s roster of contestants, which it said will be published soon. Last year’s champion, Bear 128, known as Grazer, defended her title for a second consecutive year in 2024, receiving more than 71,000 votes — more than double those cast for her closest rival, a male bear nicknamed Chunk.
"Big, bold, and bear-y round: a fat bear champ will soon be crowned!" the park service said in its season announcement, inviting the public to cheer for "the heftiest bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve's Brooks River." Since its launch in 2014, Fat Bear Week has become a social-media staple and a popular way for the public to observe bear behavior and the seasonal cycle that drives their calorie accumulation.
Past winners cited by park officials include Bear 409 "Beadnose" (2018), Bear 435 "Holly" (2019), Bear 747 (winner in 2020 and 2022), and Bear 480 "Otis" (2021). Park staff and partners such as explore.org maintain livestreams of Brooks River during the late summer and autumn months, allowing viewers to watch bears feed on salmon and build fat reserves for winter.
The event also recalled a violent altercation that was captured on a park livestream last year and temporarily halted the competition. Video from Brooks River showed adult male Bear 469 and adult female Bear 402 fighting in the river for more than 20 minutes; park footage indicated the encounter ended with the death of Bear 402. Resident naturalist Mike Fitz of explore.org described the footage as difficult to watch and said commentators believed the fight was a dominance confrontation rather than a dispute over food. Katmai Park Ranger Sarah Bruce characterized the incident as predatory behavior by the male toward the female and said the causes were not fully known.
Organizers emphasize that Fat Bear Week is a lighthearted public contest meant to draw attention to Katmai’s ecology and the work that goes into conserving its brown bear population. The park's livestreams and the bracket format have helped broaden public interest in how bears prepare for hibernation, while also providing researchers and park staff with extended visual records of bear activity.
This year’s biographies of competing bears and the official voting bracket will be released by the park service ahead of the Sept. 23 opening round. Members of the public who wish to participate can view Brooks River footage online and cast votes during the weeklong tournament, which proceeds by head-to-head matchups until a champion is selected.
The park service has not indicated any changes to safety protocols for viewing or streaming Brooks River activity since last year’s fatal encounter. Officials routinely remind visitors that the bears are wild animals and that viewing guidelines and regulations remain in force to protect both people and wildlife.