Fat Bear Week at Katmai National Park and Preserve arrives next week/NPS

It's that time of year. 

Yep, time to guess which of the brown bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska will be the fattest heading into hibernation.

Your chance to weigh-in with fat bears and vote for your favorite one as Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai October 2–8, 2024.  Choose the bear that has what it takes to survive the winter and experience the crowning of the champion at fatbearweek.org.

“Fat Bear Week satisfies your hunger for bears, salmon, and the other wonders of Katmai,” said Superintendent Mark Sturm.

Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that celebrates the healthy appetites of brown bears as well as the nourishing ecosystem in which the bears thrive.  Bears feast on one of the greatest salmon runs left on Earth.

All votes are cast at fatbearweek.org in this March-madness style bracket competition in which bears compete daily in head-to-head matchups for the title of 2024 Fat Bear Week Champion. It begins with Fat Bear Junior voting that takes place on September 26 & 27, 2024 (bracket revealed September 24).  Voting for Fat Bear Week takes place October 2-8 (bracket revealed September 30).  The champion fat bear is crowned on October 8.

This is the 10th anniversary of Fat Bear Week, which started in 2014.  Nearly 1.4 million votes were cast for the bears last year from over 100 countries.  Check out the live cams on Explore.org or visit the park to learn more about the lives of these bears.  Fat Bear Week is brought to you through the partnership of the National Park Service, Explore.org, and the Katmai Conservancy.