Backpack Wins Fat Bear Week 2026: Backpack, a 20-year-old brown bear
🐿️ The Squirrel's Take
Backpack's quiet-rock-sitting strategy beat the Dancing Queen's flashier style, proving introverts can win popularity contests.
💡 Why it matters
The event highlights how public engagement with wildlife can raise awareness of brown bear ecology and Katmai National Park's conservation efforts.
Backpack, a 20-year-old brown bear known for sitting alone on a rock at Alaska's Brooks River, won the 2026 Fat Bear Week title by about 5,000 votes over a bear called 910/Dancing Queen. The competition celebrates the bears' ability to eat fish before hibernation.
📡 Where we spotted it (3)
BBC News
'Backpack' declared Alaska's Fat Bear Week winner
4h ago
›
The Guardian
Backpack edges past Dancing Queen to win the Fat Bear Week title
4h ago
›
BBC News
Meet 'Backpack', the chunky bear who won Fat Bear Week
4h ago
›