Fat Bear Week is here early, and the bears are fat and playful

['Bill Chappell', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] TPR: The Public's Radio 2025-09-19 09:00:00

As the park’s bears pack on pounds to prepare for hibernation, online voters choose a winner in the annual Fat Bear Week bracket tournament. (T. Carmack | National Park Service)Fat Bear Week, when people get to pick their favorite Alaskan brown bear bulking up for hibernation, is coming early this year. In a rematch, mama bear Grazer defeats rival that killed her cub to win Fat Bear Week The annual Fat Bear Week honors bears that have sufficiently bulked up in the months before entering hibernation. Fat Bear Junior, for bear cubs, started on Thursday. Only 12 of them are featured in the annual Fat Bear Week competition.