Fat Bear Week 2025 ran from September 23 through September 30, 2025, and its public voting is now closed. During the event, viewers watched Katmai National Park’s brown bears through Explore.org’s live cameras, followed the tournament commentary, and voted for their favorite bears in a single-elimination bracket. Bear 32, known as Chunk, won the 2025 competition.
This guide explains how viewers watched and voted during the 2025 event, what the schedule included, and where to look for official information about the next competition. The dates below are historical and should not be mistaken for a live 2026 voting schedule.
What was Fat Bear Week?
Fat Bear Week is a public-vote tournament featuring brown bears at Brooks River in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. In each matchup, the bear with the most votes advances. The process continues through a single-elimination bracket until one bear is named champion.
The contest celebrates the bears’ annual preparation for winter. During the summer salmon run, Katmai’s bears feed heavily and build fat reserves that help them survive hibernation. The National Park Service says bears can lose up to one-third of their body weight during hibernation, so the competition’s familiar focus on size has a serious biological context.
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Fat Bear Week began as Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014 and expanded into a full weeklong event in 2015. Its purpose is not simply to identify the largest-looking bear. The event also introduces viewers to individual bears, their behavior and challenges, and the salmon-supported ecosystem around Brooks River.
Where people watched Fat Bear Week 2025
The principal viewing destination was Explore.org, which hosts the Katmai and Brooks River bear-camera network. Viewers could watch the bears live, follow the Brooks Live Chat channel, and tune in to Explore.org’s event programming for bracket coverage, ranger commentary, and the finale.
The National Park Service’s Fat Bear Week information and event announcements were the best sources for official context, while Explore.org was the practical destination for the cameras and live programming. Because event pages and camera links can change between competitions, check the official Katmai National Park website and Explore.org for the next event rather than relying on the 2025 schedule.
The 2025 Fat Bear Week schedule
The 2025 event combined a junior competition, bracket announcements, daily voting, and live commentary. These were the published dates and times:
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| Date | Program or event | 2025 details |
|---|---|---|
| September 18–19 | Fat Bear Junior | Junior bracket and voting period |
| September 22 | More to Explore | 12 p.m. Eastern / 9 a.m. Pacific |
| September 22 | Contestant and bracket reveal | 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific |
| September 23–30 | Main Fat Bear Week | Public tournament voting |
| September 24 | Hungry Like a Fat Bear | 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific |
| September 25 | A Very Fat Bear Play-by-Play | 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific |
| September 29 | Final Fat Four | Semifinal round |
| September 30 | Fat Bear Tuesday | Final matchup |
| September 30 | Fat Bear Finale Live Chat | 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific |
All of these dates belong to the completed 2025 competition. They are useful for understanding how the event was organized, but they are not current broadcast or voting times.
How voting worked in 2025
During the 2025 tournament, the voting process was:
- Open the official Fat Bear Week voting page through the Fat Bear Week or Explore.org event coverage.
- Choose a matchup and click or tap the photograph of the bear you wanted to advance.
- Enter an email address when prompted.
- Submit the vote. Explore.org described the poll as allowing one vote per email address.
- Refresh the page to view updated results when results were available.
If the results did not appear after voting, Explore.org advised viewers to enter their email address again and submit the form. According to the event’s voting instructions, that troubleshooting step was not intended to create a second vote.
The 2025 poll is no longer open. Do not enter an email address expecting to cast a vote for the 2025 bracket; that competition has concluded.
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What should voters consider besides size?
Fat Bear Week is intentionally subjective. A bear may look especially large in one photograph because of its posture, angle, wet fur, or the timing of the image. Explore.org encouraged voters to look beyond a quick visual comparison and consider the full story of each bear.
- Preparation for winter: Has the bear been feeding successfully and building the reserves needed for hibernation?
- Adaptability: How effectively does it respond to changing river conditions, competition, and opportunities to feed?
- Behavior: What can the bear’s habits, fishing technique, or interactions tell you about its individual character?
- Challenges: Has the bear had to overcome injury, competition, or difficult conditions?
- Ecological context: How does the bear’s success reflect the salmon-rich ecosystem of Brooks River?
That broader perspective is why the event works as more than a popularity contest. The bracket gives an online audience an accessible way to learn about brown-bear biology, individual animal behavior, and the importance of protecting Katmai’s intact ecosystem.
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Who won Fat Bear Week 2025?
Bear 32, “Chunk,” won Fat Bear Week 2025. In the final matchup on September 30, Chunk defeated Bear 856 with 96,350 votes to 63,725. Explore.org’s results page listed 1,716,902 votes across the 2025 competition.
The Katmai Conservancy highlighted Chunk’s story as particularly notable because he faced a broken jaw during the summer and still went on to win. That detail is attributed here to the Conservancy’s account; it should not be read as an independently verified medical report.
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Fat Bear Week 2025 is over, and its voting interface should not be presented as active. For the next competition, monitor the National Park Service’s Katmai pages and Explore.org. The current NPS information points readers toward Explore.org for the forthcoming 2026 competition, but the 2025 schedule and results should remain separate from any future dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still vote in Fat Bear Week 2025?
No. The 2025 competition ran from September 23 through September 30, 2025, and voting is closed.
Where were the Fat Bear Week 2025 livestreams shown?
The main live viewing destination was Explore.org’s Katmai and Brooks River bear-camera network, including the Brooks Live Chat channel and related live event programming.
How many votes could one person cast in 2025?
Explore.org’s voting instructions described the poll as allowing one vote per email address.
Who won Fat Bear Week 2025?
Bear 32, known as Chunk, defeated Bear 856 in the final and became the 2025 champion.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Fat Bear Week 2025 was a completed September 23–30 tournament, not an active vote. Explore.org was the place to watch the Katmai bear cams and event programming, and Bear 32 “Chunk” won the final against Bear 856. For the next competition, use the official NPS and Explore.org pages for current dates and voting instructions.
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