225kg "Hank the Tank" bear ransacks wealthy neighbourhood
Residents of a wealthy California neighbourhood have been terrorised by a 225kg black bear, nicknamed Hank the Tank by authorities.
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) , the one bear has been linked to "property damage at 38 different properties" in the affluent Tahoe Keys neighbourhood.
The trouble-making bear has been the source of more than 150 calls between law enforcement and wildlife personnel in recent months.
Peter Tira, a spokesperson for the CDFW said Hank has been spotted more and more as he has developed a taste for pizza, and has yet to be deterred by efforts from local police to scare it off with paintballs and sirens.
“It’s easier to find leftover pizza than to go in the forest,” Tira said
“This is a bear that has lost all fear of people,” he added. “It’s a potentially dangerous situation.”
Due to the heightened number of sightings and complaints about Hank, the CDFW has been setting up traps to catch the beast, but to no avail.
“The trapping activity is a measure of last resort to capture and euthanise a specific and what we call a severely habituated or human-food conditioned black bear,” Tira said.
Despite the potential danger, the bear hunt has sparked an outcry from local residents, who tried to sabotage them by trying to scare away the bear, playing loud music, and even spray-painting “Bear Killer” on the government’s trap.
A bear activist group called the BEAR League has been coordinating with the CDFW for Hank the Tank to be relocated to a wildlife sanctuary instead of euthanised.
“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,” said executive director Ann Bryant.
“We notified [the California Department of Fish and Wildlife] on Tuesday morning asking that this option be seriously considered rather than killing the bear.”
While talks to relocate Hank are still ongoing, the CDFW has urged residents to practice preventive measures to keep bears out, such as securing garbage properly and keeping trash out of cars.
According to the New York Post, when people relocated to Tahoe Keys to work from home due to the pandemic, these new residents did not adhere to preventive measures, prompting Hank the Tank to come out of the woods and forage for food.
Image credits: Facebook - BEAR League