AssetID: 56071998
Headline: 'Quiet But Determined' Backpack Wins Alaska's Fat Bear Week
Caption: 'Quiet But Determined' Backpack Wins Alaska's Fat Bear Week. A male brown bear nicknamed Backpack has been crowned the winner of Alaska's 2026 Fat Bear Week competition. Backpack, officially known as Bear 89, defeated female bear 910 in the final by 103,344 votes to 98,253. The annual competition at Katmai National Park and Preserve celebrates brown bears as they build up fat reserves before winter hibernation. Backpack survived an injury in 2007 and has been described as having a "quiet toughness”. Organisers said his dramatic skinny-to-fat transformation captured voters' attention during a year of particularly close competition. His nickname dates back to his youth, when he was often seen clinging to his mother Holly's back as she swam across a river. Holly is also a previous Fat Bear Week winner, making the mother and son both champions of the popular competition. Backpack’s victory was considered an upset after he narrowly won his semi-final, while 910 had reached the final with a margin of more than 70,000 votes.
Keywords: Natural World,Backpack,Alaska's Fat Bear Week,bear,bears,winner,competition,female bear,hibernation,skinny-to-fat,transformation,voters,river,fishing,champions,animals,habitat
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