ALASKA (WNDU) - Winter is coming, so you know what that means… Fat Bear Week is back!

Fat Bear Week is where people vote on the fattest Alaskan brown bears in Katmai National Park who are bulking up for hibernation.

According to NBC’s TODAY , it began as a one-day competition in 2014 and has since become a global phenomenon where millions of viewers tune in to watch the bears hunt for salmon and cast their votes for the fattest bear of the week.

And thanks to extraordinary salmon numbers this year, the bears could be fatter than ever!

Fat Bear Week kicks off on Tuesday and will run for one week through next Tuesday, Sept. 30. The competing bears will be revealed on Monday at 7 p.m. EDT so viewers can begin to fill out their 2025 brackets .

Once Fat Bear Week kicks off, it will

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