Fat Bear Week Day 1: It’s a battle of the moms and single females

On day one of Fat Bear Week, eight tough females square off. You’ve seen them on the explore.org camera at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, defending their cubs, fishing for meals, and blending families. So who’s competing on Day 1 of Fat Bear Week? Let’s meet the bears.

Bear 132 and cubs vs. Bear 284 and cubs

Mama Bear 132 boasts one of Fat Bear Week’s most compelling stories. She demonstrated her resiliency this summer after one of her spring cubs separated from the family. Bear 132 emerged this year with three spring cubs, her fourth known litter. Around mid-July, one of her cubs somehow ended up on its own and was later spotted wandering near the Brooks River unaccompanied. The cub tried approaching other bear families, only to be chased away or ignored.

Cubs without a mother’s protection face multiple dangers—attacks from other bears, starvation, and more life-threatening risks. Bear 132’s cub managed to survive and was reunited with its family after several days ambling alone. This is Bear 132’s first appearance at Fat Bear Week.

Mama Bear 284 (aka Electra) is part of a bear lineage that teaches their offspring a clever fishing style. Electra’s mother used to stand and walk out into the water when she was fishing, and Electra and one of her adult offspring (Bear 901) fish the same way.

Bear 284 was born in 2008 to Bear 708 (Amelia), who was likely born to Bear 468 (Reggie). Rangers first spotted her in 2011 as a subadult. She has had at least three litters (in 2016, 2020, and 2026). Bears 901 and 384 are two of her adult offspring who have been seen in the park. This year, she had two spring cubs who have been spotted with her multiple times over the summer. Bear 284 made her Fat Bear Week debut in 2023.

Bear #806 vs. Bear #901

Bear 806 was at the center of a shocking story this summer: She attacked and killed an unrelated spring cub near Brooks River on July 28. The live-cams captured the young brown bear cub being killed and eaten by 806 as her spring cubs looked on. The killed cub was the child of Bear 909, a 10-year-old brown bear. Bear 909 started the season with two cubs, but has now lost both. (More on her later.)

Bear 806 had her own two cubs with her at time of the attack: a 2.5-year-old cub and 1.5-year-old cub. The 2.5-year-old cub, nicknamed “Biggie” (Junior 128), was adopted by Bear 806 earlier this spring after being abandoned by her mother, two-time Fat Bear Week champion Grazer. Bear 806’s cubs were seen interacting with the cub prior to the attack. After pursuing and killing the cub, Bear 806 was seen feeding on the cub’s body. Park rangers believe that this was the first documented case of infanticide by a female adult that’s happened at Brooks River. This is Bear 806’s first time competing in Fat Bear Week.

Bear 901 was first identified in 2018 as a 2.5 year old subadult. She excels at packing on pounds in the lead up to the long winter. “901 readily achieves a level of fatness above that of many other bears, so she’s well positioned to survive winter and support the growth of her cubs,” explore.org writes.

Despite her skills at plumping up herself and her cubs, she has experience loss. No cubs from her first litter in 2023 survived and she lost one of her 2026 cubs earlier this summer. In 2025’s Fat Bear Week, she lost in the second round to eventual winner Chunk.

Bear 909 vs. Bear 428

As mentioned earlier, Bear 909 was part of Katmai’s most shocking storylines this summer. On July 28, she lost her only surviving 2026 cub in an attack by Bear 806. Bear 909 started the season with two cubs with her first being lost in unknown circumstances before the death of her second cub. After the attack, she was seen near where the incident occurred, chasing away other bears.

“She displayed her resilience in the face of loss by navigating the rest of the summer with determination and skill,” explore.org says of 909. “The effort is reflected in her plentiful body fat.”

She is the offspring 409 Beadnose, a two-time Fat Bear Week champion (2015 and 2018), and sister to 910, who is also competing this year. Viewers can spot her blonde ears against a dark brown coat. She made her Fat Bear Week debut in 2025.

Bear 428 aka Studious is also the offspring of a two-time Fat Bear Week champion, Grazer (Bear 128), who took the crown back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. With a fierce mother to protect her, she learned to fish at some of the Brooks River’s most prime spots. She was given the unofficial nickname of Studious by bear cam fans who noted her look of determination while fishing with her mom. This will be her first year competing in Fat Bear Week

Bear 131 vs. Bear 910

As a cub, Bear 131 earned the nickname Marshmallow for her light fur color. She’s toasted up a bit and now at age 8.5 appears a lighter brown shade. She has not been observed with any litters of cubs.

“Reproduction in brown bears is slow, even when all of the necessary circumstances line up,” explore.org writes of 131. “With each year, however, 131 has grown larger and her fishing skills have improved. She appears this September to be proportionally fatter than she has ever been. Cubs could be in 131’s near future.” This will be her debut Fat Bear Week.

It’s a family affair for Bear 910, and that could be mean sister vs. sister in the next round of voting, if both 910 and sister 909 advance. That would be interesting considering the fascinating family dynamics of the duo.

In 2023, Bear 910 blended her family with her sister Bear 909’s family. In the process, she adopted her sister’s 2.5-year-old female yearling cub (a 1- to 2-year-old cub still with its mother), while she herself had a spring cub (a first-year cub that was born over the winter and emerges in the spring). Adoptions like these are exceptionally rare in the wild, and it is believed to be only the second such adoption at Katmai. She made her Fat Bear Week debut in 2025.

Voting for Fat Bear Week begins on Tuesday, September 22 between 12-9pm EDT (9am-6pm PDT, 8am-5pm AKDT) at explore.org. The winner will be crowned on Tuesday, September 29.