A Hungry 500-Pound Bear Has Broken Into Nearly 30 Homes In California (UPDATE)
UPDATE, 8:38 p.m. EST, Feb. 24 ― California officials initially believed that 28 break-ins in South Lake Tahoe were the work of one 500-pound bear widely known as “Hank the Tank.” But new DNA evidence has cleared him in at least some of the incidents. At least three bears have been breaking into homes, prompting the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to modify its strategy. Read more here.
Earlier:
A 500-pound black bear has broken into 28 homes and caused significant property damage in a California city, eluding wildlife officials for months.
A “special trapping effort” is now underway to catch the hefty male, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced this week. Since summer 2021, the bear has “forcefully entered” houses and caused “extensive property damage” around Tahoe Keys, a wealthy neighborhood in South Lake Tahoe. The bear’s “immense size and strength” make it easy for him to get through both front doors and garage doors, the statement said.
There have been more than 150 calls to authorities placed over the bear, according to local news station KCRA.
Following reports the bear would be killed if caught, California DFW spokesperson Peter Tira told HuffPost that officials were looking at multiple options and that the bear’s death would a “last resort.”
“With regard to when and if it is captured, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is exploring all options, which include placement in an accredited sanctuary or similar facility, relocation and euthanasia, which is always the option of last resort,” Tira said in an email.
The bear has many aliases. SFGate reports that residents of Tahoe Keys know him as Jake or Yogi. Local police, however, have taken to calling him “Hank the Tank.”
Whatever name you call him, though, the bear is “severely food-habituated,” which means he no longer fears humans and instead associates people with food. This can happen when people either intentionally feed bears, or accidentally leave food out where bears can eat it.
Most of the incidents happened in the spring and summer of year, when the bear was in hyperphagia ― a state of constant eating that prepares bears for hibernation, Tira told CNN. But he awoke from hibernation this month and resumed causing mayhem.
Jake/Yogi/Hank has not injured any people or pets. And local bear advocacy group BEAR League wants to make sure that no harm comes to him.
“The BEAR League reached out to the director of an excellent out-of-state wildlife sanctuary who agreed he has room and would be very willing to give this bear a permanent home,” executive director Ann Bryant told local news station KCRA. She added that the BEAR League had been in touch with state officials about the plan.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
