Fat Bear Week winner ... Alaska has a new heavyweight champion. Katmai National Park's beloved Fat Bear Week crowned a 20-year-old brown bear named Backpack as the 2026 winner, after he pulled in more than 103,000 votes to claim the title of the park's chunkiest bear.
Backpack entered the competition as an early favorite, dominating the first rounds before surviving a tight semifinal and ultimately taking the crown. His victory is also a family achievement. Backpack is the offspring of Holly, the 2019 Fat Bear Week champion. As a cub, he earned the name Backpack by riding on Holly's back while crossing the Brooks River. But his journey to the title wasn't easy. Backpack suffered a serious leg injury as a young bear, raising doubts about his survival. But he recovered, grew into a massive 1,000-pound adult, and now joins the Fat Bear Week Hall of Champions.
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