Hank the Tank, a 500-Pound Bear, Ransacks a California Community

[brooklynite]

New York Times

Since the summer, a black bear known as Hank the Tank has made a 500-pound nuisance of himself in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., breaking into more than two dozen homes to rummage for food and leaving a trail of damage behind.

So far, nobody has been able to deter Hank, said Peter Tira, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Department officials and the local police have tried to “haze” the bear with paintballs, bean bags, sirens and Tasers, but he is too drawn to humans and their food to stay away for long.

“It’s easier to find leftover pizza than to go in the forest,” Mr. Tira said on Sunday.

Residents have called the police about Hank more than 100 times since July as he continues to rampage through Tahoe Keys, a gated community about 190 miles northeast of San Francisco.

[Coventina]

1. Human selfishness will require Hank's eventual execution.

[keithbvadu2]

2. Not that well gated, eh?

[MontanaMama]

4. I have black bears go up and over

my 6' fence to get into my backyard on a regular basis. They're incredibly agile.

[a kennedy]

3. and that can't be good with him weighing so much......sad really....eating human food can't be healthy

for him. 😢

[Celerity]

6. He looks horribly overweight. What a tragic story all around.

[roamer65]

5. After all the wilderness that's burned in CA, I'm not surprised.

Wild food is probably in short supply.

[Maru Kitteh]

7. This makes me very sad. He looks miserable. I hope crowd-funding is organized

to arrange for him to be rehabilitated and released.