Beginner
Every year, bears in Alaska get ready for winter. In the summer, they eat a lot of fish. The fish are called salmon. The bears get very fat. The fat helps them live through the cold winter.
Katmai National Park has a contest about this. It is called Fat Bear Week. People vote online for the fattest bear.
This year, a bear named Backpack won. His number is 89. He is 20 years old. He weighs more than 1,000 pounds.
Why is he called Backpack? When he was a baby, he rode on his mother’s back in the river.
More than 2.3 million people voted this year. Backpack won by about 5,000 votes. His mother, Holly, won the contest in 2019.
Vocabulary
- vote — to choose a winner
- contest — a game where people try to win
- bear — a big, strong wild animal with thick fur
- river — a long stream of water
- salmon — a large fish that people and bears eat
- winter — the coldest season of the year
- mother — a female parent
- fat — extra body weight that stores energy
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- Have you ever voted in a contest online? What was it?
- Why do you think so many people like this contest?
- What animal would you vote for in a “Fat Animal Week”?
Intermediate
A big brown bear known as Backpack is the 2026 Fat Bear Week champion. Fans around the world voted online, and more than 2.3 million votes were cast in a bracket-style contest at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Backpack, also called Bear 89, is 20 years old and weighs an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. He got his nickname as a cub, when he liked to climb onto his mother’s back while she swam across the Brooks River. His mother, Holly, won Fat Bear Week in 2019, so winning runs in the family.
The contest began with 16 bears. Backpack won a very close semifinal against a bear called Bucky Dent. In the final, he beat Bear 910 by about 5,000 votes. Many fans thought this might be his only chance to win, because he is older than the other bears.
Backpack’s story has not always been easy. In 2007, he had a leg injury so serious that rangers worried he would not survive. He recovered and grew into a very large adult. Today he is known as a calm, quiet bear who likes to sit on a favorite rock in the river and watch for fish.
The goal of the contest is to celebrate how much weight the bears gain from eating salmon all summer. A ranger says that every bear in the contest is a winner, because the extra fat helps them survive the winter.
Vocabulary
- bracket — a chart that shows who plays against who in a contest
- cast — to give or submit (a vote)
- nickname — a short, friendly name used instead of a real name
- semifinal — the round just before the final
- injury — damage to the body
- recovered — became healthy again
- survive — to stay alive
- celebrate — to show that something is special
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- Some fans voted for Backpack because he is older and “this might be his only chance.” Do you think that is a good reason to vote for someone?
- Why do you think people enjoy following the lives of wild animals?
- What contests or traditions in your country celebrate animals, food, or nature?
Advanced
After a week of fierce online campaigning, a 20-year-old brown bear known as Backpack has been crowned the champion of Fat Bear Week 2026. More than 2.3 million votes poured in from around the world, and the final margin was thin. Backpack edged out Bear 910 by roughly 5,000 votes.
The annual contest, run through Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, pits 16 brown bears against one another in a single-elimination bracket. Backpack’s path to the title was far from a formality. He survived one of the tightest semifinals in the contest’s history, narrowly defeating a newcomer nicknamed Bucky Dent by less than a percentage point.
Backpack, who weighs an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, earned his nickname as a cub by riding on his mother’s back across the Brooks River. His mother, Holly, was herself a Fat Bear Week champion in 2019, making him the latest member of a bear dynasty. Park rangers describe him as a stoic presence on the river who rarely gets pulled into conflicts. He often sits on a favorite rock to watch for salmon. He has far fewer scars than most adult males his age.
His life has not been without hardship. In 2007, a leg injury left him struggling to walk, and rangers feared he would not survive the season. With his mother’s help and without human intervention, he recovered completely. Some fans cast their votes for him this year because of his age, reasoning that younger bears will have more chances to win later.
The contest is meant to celebrate the dramatic weight gain that bears achieve by feasting on salmon at Brooks Falls. That fat is essential, since bears do not truly hibernate. Instead, they enter a state called torpor and live off their stored reserves until spring. As one ranger put it, every bear in the bracket has already won by being on track to survive another winter.
Vocabulary
- bracket — a chart showing the rounds of a tournament
- margin — the amount by which someone wins
- edged out — beat someone by a very small amount
- dynasty — a family or group that stays powerful or successful for a long time
- stoic — calm and not showing emotion
- hardship — a time of difficulty
- torpor — a deep, sleep-like state in which an animal’s body slows down to save energy
- reserves — a supply that is saved for later
Comprehension Check
Discussion Prompts
- The contest celebrates something that people often view negatively in other settings (weight gain). Why does the context change how we feel about it?
- Some voters chose Backpack because “this might be his only chance.” How does a compelling backstory influence how people judge a winner?
- Online voting contests can turn local wildlife into global celebrities. What are the benefits and risks of that attention?
Original story: “Bear named Backpack wins Fat Bear Week in Alaska”, UPI (September 30, 2026). Additional reporting from Alaska Public Media and Popular Science.
Photo: A brown bear at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, by Peter Pearsall/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2020), public domain via Wikimedia Commons.