Year First Observed: 2006
Year Last Observed: 2026
Age: 20

Bear 89, known as Backpack, is the 2026 Fat Bear Week champion. He has been coming to Brooks River for 20 years, ever since his mother, 2019 champion 435 Holly, first brought him there as a tiny cub. He won the 2026 title in one of the tightest finals the contest has seen.

How to recognize him

Backpack is a medium large adult male with blond ears and a dish shaped muzzle. His coat is light brown in early summer and turns a darker, grizzled brown as the season goes on. For a big male his age he carries surprisingly few scars, which says a lot about how he gets along with other bears.

The name

Holly introduced Backpack to Brooks River in 2006, his first summer. When the two of them crossed the river, the little cub would often climb up and ride on his mother's back. Visitors and rangers noticed, and the name has followed him ever since.

A rough start

In 2007, Holly returned with Backpack as a yearling, and he was badly hurt. He had a pronounced limp and would not put weight on the injured leg for much of the summer. No one knows what caused it. Plenty of people watching wondered if he would make it.

Holly kept caring for him, and by the end of that summer the leg had healed. She sent him off on his own the following spring, and in 2008 rangers recorded him as an independent bear about two and a half years old. Through his young adult years he was often seen play fighting with other young males, including 151 Walker and 32 Chunk.

Quiet strength

Most large males at Brooks River keep their place through intimidation and fights. Backpack mostly doesn't. He will stand his ground when he has to, but he tends to wait, read the situation, and take a good fishing spot when it opens up rather than force his way in. In early summer he is a regular at Brooks Falls, though he isn't one of the bears who rules it. In the fall he works the lower river, picking up salmon there.

That calm approach has clearly paid off. By late summer 2026 he was estimated to weigh somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds.

Champion

In 2026, Backpack beat 164 Bucky in the semifinals and then edged 910 in the final, 103,344 votes to 98,253. More than 2.5 million votes were cast over the whole tournament. Both finalists were the children of past champions. With his win, Backpack and Holly became the first mother and son to both hold the Fat Bear Week title.

Fat Bear Week

• 2026: Champion, defeating 164 Bucky in the semifinals and 910 in the final

Quick facts

• Sex: Male

• Titles: 2026 Fat Bear Week champion

• Born: 2006

• Mother: 435 Holly, 2019 champion

• First identified on his own: 2008

• Known for: Riding on his mother's back, his calm temperament