In case you missed it: voter turnout for Day 1 of Fat Bear Week was so huge, it broke their website. Organizers made changes to the voting collection process and re-opened Day 2 with a repeat of Day 1’s polls. Voters had mixed success, due to maxing out the new software limits as well. What we observed is that there ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no website big enough to hold the votes for Fat Bear Week 2026.
However, after two days of endurance, we’ve got enormous results: The 132 Family; 132’s daughter 806 and her family; and single sisters 909 and 910. This group returns to the bracket tomorrow.
Today, our eyes are on eight new bears in the competition. We’ve got a wild mix across four matches: from well-funded subadults and scars to brawny beefcakes and bad boys.
MATCH 1: 694 Ponyboy vs 620 Bead
694 does not have an official nickname, but some call him Ponyboy because he kind of looks like a pony in the spring. I really wanted bear 99 to be Ponyboy, more for the literary character, but I think I’m the only one marching in that protest. Anyway, both bears are gorgeous young sweethearts and I will, for the moment, let my 99 campaign go.
What we love about our pony 694 is how playful and social he is. He’s a party boy, and he likes to round up his friends and kick it at the beach. He’s besties with 606 Phelps and has a young love story growing with 128jr Biggie.
620 Bead grew up in the girl gang that was her family—The Beady Bunch, we used to call them—back when sisters 909 and 910 made the clever decision to raise their kids together as one fat unit.
Subadults are usually the lowest on the bear hierarchy, due to being smaller and never having a job before. But Bead was raised in a family of wide privilege and they have always fished the lip of the falls, a wealthy, well-to-do area of the river. This summer, Bead sauntered her little subadult self up there and took her place amongst the big bears. It was a little awkward at first, but she persevered. Go big or go home; that’s her lineage.
Bead is eating so well, she’s starting to get confused with her full grown mother, 910. She’s growing up and glowing up, and she’s already walking amongst the giants.
MATCH 2: The 610 Family vs 89 Backpack
How dare the organizers pit these two precious bears against each other!
Let’s start in reverse order. 89 Backpack is a crowd favorite on account of how he does no wrong. He got his name from riding around on his mama’s back as a baby. His mama was the virtuous, large-hearted bear named 435 Holly. Backpack is one of the oldest bears on this bracket, but he’s still a baby at heart. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, and when you see him you just want to pinch his cheeks and say oh whuddagoodboybabybabybearbear, which is also how I greet my real life dog named Bear*. What I mean is, Backpack is basically a puppy** and everyone has heart eyes for him.
*You’re never going to believe me, but my dog was already named Bear when I adopted him
**I’m kidding; please don’t pet that dog
When 89 Backpack was a tiny 1.5 year old cub, he had a bad leg injury. We don’t know how it happened, but he could not put weight on it. His mom stuck by his side, moving more slowly so her son could keep up. She avoided the prime fishing spots in order to keep him better protected. This loyal mothering allowed Backpack time to heal. These days, there’s no evidence of Backpack’s limp.
When bear 610 was a tiny 1.5 year old cub, she too had a bad leg injury: a large wound on her itty bitty hip. Clearly, she’d been attacked.
Notably, she was alone.
We do not know why her mom abandoned her at this young age; maybe it had to do with however or whoever gave 610 the leg injury. Regardless, unlike 89 Backpack, 610 did not have a mom to wait for her or to protect her or to feed and nuzzle and dig her a den to sleep beside her as she healed. There was no back, there was no pack; it was just her and her wounds in the wild. 610 does not have a nickname, but for a while she was called The Lone Bear.
It’s hard to be a bear, it’s hard to be female, hard to be small, and hardest to be a cub. I don’t know that there is any other record of such a young, abandoned cub at Katmai surviving. The exception I can recall would be bear 503, who survived in large part because he was adopted. The Lone Bear did not have the same courage and social nature of 503; she was skittish around other bears and likely would not have approached a different mother. The Lone Bear was not adopted.
And still. We watched her survive. She returned in 2016. She returned in 2017. She returned and she returned and she is returning. What happened is 610 learned to mother herself.
Her hip eventually healed. She walks without trouble, but she’s a little shy. Some days we can still see her scars.
I hope 610 advances so I can write more in celebration of her journey to motherhood, which took awhile. She’s got two bubbly cubbies now, and the three of them are exploring the world together, side by side.
On the outside, 610 is a relatively small bear. But don’t be fooled; she is tremendous.
She is the mother she has always deserved.
MATCH 3: 32 Chunk vs 164 Bucky
These fat boys take up a lot of space naturally, so today I’ll be more brief with their bios. You’re looking at perpetual runner up 32 Chunk who finally got his claws on a championship last year. This was largely in part to his rags-to-fishes resilience story. He had a tough summer, and probably still is and always will be, on account of how someone permanently broke his jaw. Chunk had been on a real tear for awhile, so we weren’t entirely surprised when someone finally clocked him in the face. That doesn’t mean we don’t like the guy. In fact, we felt so bad / were so proud of him for surviving that we let him wear the crown for a whole year. 32 Chunk was my gateway bear, to be honest, because I liked his name. He’s authentic that way—very hunky, very chunky–but is he huge enough to hold onto his title?
164 Bucky is also known as The Beariff because he likes to think there’s only room for one of him at the river, *pew pew*. Even as a subadult, Bucky quickly wanted in on the action. He found new, unconventional ways to “fish” including seating himself right underneath/inside the waterfall. No one did that before! No one does that, even now. It looks…uncomfortable. Still, it worked for Bucky and he got big, big, big! As of this year, he is one of the actual largest bears of Brooks River, and at only ten years old he’s still got more room to grow. Bucky has been hungry for success ever since he was born, and his large size and even larger determination is helping him catch it. If you’re into bad boys, this match is double trouble for you.
MATCH 4: 151 Walker vs 903 Gully
These are two of my favorite bears.
151 Walker does. not. age. His other name is Hot Walker. I don’t know how many steps are in his skincare routine, but if Walker posted a tutorial, I would watch it. This beefcake is a bonafide bear model and what makes it even better is how aware of it he is. Walker is never not striking a pose. He does not have a bad side and his over the shoulder look could stop a gull in its tracks.
Walker is a huge bear, but he’s not top dawg and he never has been. He throws his weight around, sure. He reliably backs down if someone really comes swinging. The theory in our house is that he doesn’t want to risk battle scars. “Watch the face!” we imagine him saying. Walker knows his assets and he protects them.
903 Gully has a lot of claims to fame: he used to eat seagulls, which is how got his name; he sits at the lip of the falls and hangs his long neck over it like Eeyore; and he is the son of legendary FBW Champ, 128 Grazer. The most sizable thing about Gully, though, in my opinion, is his peaceful nature. He is known to take the wide road, often going around other bears as opposed to always vying for dominance. He enjoys zoning out at The Office like the zenmaster 480 Otis used to do. And from time to time, he will sit his big bear butt down on the river bank, just, you know, taking in the view. Some of us also call him Sir Gulliver Grazerson, which seems to fit his regal, gentleman-like personality.
May the fattest bear win! Vote today from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. AKDT at fatbearweek.org.
