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Fat Bear Week 2026: Check how to vote for semifinal and final as Google pays tribute with unique doodle
Fat Bear Week, Katmai’s contest for Alaska’s fattest bears, ends Tuesday. Google has come up with a unique salmon-feeding bear doodle.
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Fat Bear Week, the annual celebration of nature organized by the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Hawaii, is coming to an end on Tuesday, 29 September.
The awareness-raising program about the brown bears of Alaska is presented in the form of a competition where votes are cast for the fattest bear. Brown Alaskan bears bulk up before the winter as they hibernate.
The Fat Bear Week 2026 started on September 22. The competition has reached the semifinal stage with four bears left in the contest. Voting for the semi-final contest will conclude Friday, September 28 evening. And the voting for the final will happen Tuesday, with the winner declared later in the evening.
Who Are The Contestants? How To Vote?
The semi-final of the Fat Bear Week 2026 features two contests. The first one is between two unnamed female bears, Bear #132 and Bear #910. The second contest is between two male bears, Bucky Dent and Backpack.
Also read: Why did GoFundMe shut down the viral Texas fundraiser for 81-year-old man Donald Johnson?
How To Vote In Fat Bear Week 2026 Semi Final?
Voting for the semifinal contest starts at 12pm EDT and ends at 9pm EDT on Monday. Votes can be cast on the website, explore.org/fat-bear-week.
How To Vote For Fat Bear Week 2026 Finals?
The voting for the Fat Bear Week 2026 finals will start at 12pm EDT and end at 9pm EDT on Tuesday, September 29.
Google Comes Up With Unique Tribute On Fat Bear Week 2026
Google Search has come up with a unique tribute to celebrate the final two days of Fat Bear Week 2026. Upon searching Fat Bear Week on the Google search box, an interactive Alaskan brown bear appears that can be fed salmon. The more the bear is fed, the fatter it becomes.
The interactive doodle has been received positively by enthusiasts of the fat bear week. If you google fat bear week a bear shows up and you can feed him salmon and he gets fatter and fatter. I love him," one X user wrote.
"Here’s a funny start to your day. My college son told me about it. Click “fat bear” on Google and then click the fish," wrote another.
The Ecological Importance Of Alaskan Brown Bears
Alaska’s brown bears are vital to the ecosystem, especially around salmon-rich rivers. By catching and consuming salmon, they move nutrients from rivers into forests and soil, while their feeding helps sustain scavengers and other wildlife.
Alaska is home to an estimated 30,000–35,000 brown bears, roughly half the brown bears in North America. The state has one of the world's largest brown bear populations, with particularly high densities in Katmai and Kodiak.
