Fat Bear Week 2024 – Katmai National Park & ​​Preserve (US National Park Service)

Date of press release: September 23, 2024

Contact: Matt Johnson, 907.469.1131

KING SALMON, Alaska — Join the Fat Bears and vote for your favorite when Fat Bear Week returns October 2-8, 2024 at Katmai National Park & ​​Preserve. Choose the bear you think has what it takes to survive the winter and see the champion crowned on October 8th at fatbearweek.org.

“Fat Bear Week satisfies your hunger for bear, salmon and the other wonders of Katmai,” said park director Mark Sturm, “all in one bite.”

Fat Bear Week is an annual park competition that celebrates brown bears' healthy appetites and the nurturing ecosystem in which the bears thrive. Bears feast on a feast of wild Alaskan salmon in one of the largest salmon farms on earth, made possible by the pristine waters that originate in Katmai National Park and Preserve.

All votes will be cast on fatbearweek.org in this March Madness-style bracket competition, where bears will compete daily in head-to-head matchups for the title of 2024 Fat Bear Week Champion. It begins with the Fat Bear Junior vote, which will take place on September 26th and 27th, 2024 (vote announced on September 24th). Voting for Fat Bear Week will take place October 2-8, 2024 (deadline announced September 30). Champion Fat Bear will be crowned on October 8, 2024.

This is the 10th^Th Anniversary of Fat Bear Week, launched in 2014 to celebrate the magnificent bears of Katmai and the ecosystem that allows them to thrive. Last year, almost 1.4 million votes were cast for the bears from over a hundred countries. Check out the live cameras on Explore.org or visit the park to learn more about the lives of these bears. Fat Bear Week is brought to you through the partnership of the National Park Service, Explore.org and the Katmai Conservancy. For more information about Katmai, visit us at www.nps.gov/katm and follow us on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitteror Instagram.

—NPS—