How to vote in Fat Bear Week 2025 and why it matters

by

Fat Bear Week returns in 2025, letting people everywhere vote for the biggest, most well-fed brown bear in Katmai National Park.

Fat Bear Week’s online tournament happens every year from September 23rd to the 30th. Each day, people can vote for their favorite bear on the official Fat Bear Week website.

This event showcases the incredible effort Alaska’s brown bears make to gain weight before winter hibernation. It’s a bracket-style competition where viewers vote each day to decide which bear moves forward. The champion will be revealed on September 30th.

This year’s competition includes 12 bears, with some familiar faces returning like the reigning champion, 128 Grazer, along with her cub, 128 Jr. Popular bear 32 Chunk and 602 Flotato are also competing. Each bear has a unique story – whether it’s overcoming injuries or raising their young – which makes the matchups even more interesting.

How to vote for the fattest bear

Voting is easy! Every day, we’ll put two bears head-to-head. Fans can vote for their favorite on our website, and polls are usually open from noon to 9 PM Eastern Time. You can vote once per email address for each matchup daily, and the bear with the most votes advances to the next round.

To vote, visit the Feat Bear Week website and click on the picture of the bear you want to support. You’ll need to enter your email address to confirm your vote. New pairings will be revealed each day, leading up to the final results on September 30th.

The competition includes a separate contest for cubs called Fat Bear Junior. The cub who wins this preliminary round will then compete in the main competition.

What’s the point?

Fat Bear Week is all in good fun, but it also highlights how crucial fat reserves are for brown bears to survive the winter hibernation. It also shows how important salmon are to their environment. What started as a local event has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, with millions participating and learning about bear conservation.

Fans can follow along by voting daily and watching Katmai’s bears live through the park’s webcams.

Read More

2025-09-24 12:53