Fat Bear Week 2026 Is Over, But Could the Bow Valley Have Its Own?

Alaska's Fat Bear Week has wrapped up, with Bear 89, nicknamed Backpack, crowned the fattest bear of 2026.

The annual competition draws worldwide attention as brown bears pack on weight before hibernation. But would a similar event work in Alberta?

Nick de Ruyter, WildSmart program director at the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley, says differences in habitat, food sources and human activity would make a local competition difficult to manage safely.

"So is it doable? Sure," de Ruyter told Bow Valley Insider. "It won't be near as cool as Alaska."

Why Alaska's bears are different

Fat Bear Week began in 2014 at Katmai National Park and Preserve to highlight how much weight bears gain before hibernation.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, bears can lose up to one-third of their body weight during hibernation, making their summer and fall feeding essential to survival.

At Katmai, abundant salmon runs allow bears to grow considerably larger than their Alberta counterparts.

De Ruyter pointed to Banff's famous grizzly, Bear 122, better known as The Boss, as an example.

"You know, the biggest bear here, The Boss, is about 600 pounds, and those bears up there get 1,200, 1,400, 1,600 pounds," he said.

But size isn't the only difference.

Watching bears without getting too close

Each summer, sockeye salmon return to Katmai's Brooks River to spawn, attracting large numbers of bears to feeding areas such as Brooks Falls.

According to the U.S. National Park Service, these salmon provide a rich food source, helping bears build substantial fat reserves before winter.

In the Canadian Rockies, the diet looks different.

According to Parks Canada, approximately 85 percent of a grizzly bear's diet consists of vegetation. Bow Valley grizzlies rely on seasonal foods such as berries, roots, and other plants rather than concentrated salmon runs.

These differences also affect how people observe the animals.

At Katmai, salmon attract bears to relatively predictable locations. Visitors can watch from designated platforms, while live webcams allow people around the world to observe them remotely.

In the Bow Valley, grizzlies roam across a much larger landscape in search of food.

"Here the bears are spread out about around such a big area that it'd be really hard to track them and monitor them," de Ruyter said.

Unlike Katmai's managed viewing areas, encounters with bears in the Bow Valley can happen along trails, roads and within communities, making increased attention toward individual animals a potential safety concern.

When celebrating bears becomes a safety concern

For de Ruyter, the biggest issue isn't whether Alberta could organize a competition, but how it might influence people's behaviour around wildlife.

He says a competition could encourage people to approach bears for photographs or deliberately leave food out to help them gain weight.

"What I would be worried about with a Fat Bear Week would be people purposely feeding bears or leaving food out, you know, because they want that bear to be fatter than the other bears," he said.

The consequences of bears accessing human food sources are already being felt in Banff.

As Bow Valley Insider recently reported, internal Parks Canada correspondence revealed that officials had discussed the possibility of lethally removing Bear 122, better known as The Boss, amid concerns about his access to unnatural food sources, behaviour and interactions with people.

The records describe a September 2023 incident in which The Boss fed on crabapples in Banff and charged toward a wildlife officer. Parks Canada staff interpreted the behaviour as likely defence of the food source.

Although no decision to remove the bear has been confirmed, his situation illustrates how access to human food sources can complicate wildlife management and create safety risks.

Why fall matters for Bow Valley bears

Although Alberta's grizzlies don't reach the same sizes as those in Katmai, building up fat before winter is just as important.

De Ruyter said August, September and October are critical feeding months, but food availability varies with seasonal conditions.

He said a strong berry crop in 2025 helped keep bears feeding naturally, while this year's poorer crop has coincided with more bears feeding on cherry trees in town.

"The big X factor is going to be Mother Nature and what kind of natural foods are available," he said.

In its Oct. 8 bear activity update, the Biosphere Institute warned that bears remain active throughout the Bow Valley despite a recent decline in sightings.

The organization urged residents to secure attractants, including fruit, pumpkins, garbage, bird feeders and pet food.

It also reminded people using trails and day-use areas to carry bear spray and stay at least 100 metres away from bears.

Appreciating bears from a distance

De Ruyter acknowledges that Fat Bear Week can help people learn about individual bears and the ecosystems they depend on.

"It's a fun, interesting thought experiment for sure because people would be able to get to know some of the bears here," he said.

But in the Bow Valley, where bears roam freely across a landscape shared with residents and visitors, he worries that increased attention could put wildlife at risk.

For now, the priority is allowing bears to feed naturally and prepare for winter without human interference.

Alaska's Fat Bear Week may have crowned its champion, but Alberta's bears are still preparing for winter.

And they don't need an audience to do it.