Credit: C Loberg/A Monaco/T Carmack/NPS/Katmai Conservancy/Explore.org/Cover Images Alaska’s tubbiest ursines have been fighting it out once again as Fat Bear Week reaches its climax on Monday and Tuesday (29-30 September 2025). The much-loved competition, which pits bears in the U.S.’s northernmost state against each other in a public vote to decide who has put on the most weight ahead of their winter hibernation, has reached the semi-final stage. Now in its 11th year, the celebration of brown bear resilience and survival is a single-elimination tournament. In addition to being crowned the public’s furry favourite, fatter bears win the ultimate prize - as they have the best chance of surviving winter hibernation. The Fat Bear Week champion is crowned on Tuesday. Fat Bear Week has grown from a little-known, one-day event with 1,700 votes in 2014 to a worldwide celebration of Katmai’s bears. About 1.2 million votes were cast from more than 100 countries in Fat Bear Week 2024. Referring to her own favourite bears Explore.org founder Charlie Annenberg, who sets up livecams documenting the bears, said it has been a bumper summer. “Chunk's resilience, Grazer's skill, and Bucky's intelligence are only a few of the amazing stories we followed at Brooks River this summer,” says explore.org’s founder Charlie Annenberg. “The bears have grown as fat as I've ever seen them thanks to another exceptional salmon run. Go big or go home!” Last year, bear 128, known as Grazer, won her second Fat Bear Week championship and became the first mother bear to win. She’s raising a yearling cub in 2025 but still made the semis, where she will meet the unnamed Bear 856. Another bear with a backstory is number 32, Chunk, who broke his jaw in late spring. Despite the pain and hardship he experienced, Chunk showcased his adaptability and resilience to remain one of the river’s largest and most dominant bears. The reward for his hard work is his own semi-final berth against Bear 602. Voters decide by comparing early and late summer photos of the bears. They can also support Katmai’s brown bears and salmon by contributing to the Katmai Conservancy’s Otis Fund. The bears exemplify the richness of Katmai National Park and Bristol Bay, Alaska - a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet.