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

However Hank’s penchant for breaking into houses, which was reported by tv station KRNV in Reno, Nev., didn’t gradual within the winter, main the state wildlife authorities to consider that he by no means went into hibernation, Mr. Tira mentioned. Generally bears don’t hibernate if they’ve year-round entry to meals, he mentioned.

Hank didn’t wander right into a entice set for him this month, so the authorities are brainstorming a brand new method, with euthanasia being their “final possibility,” Mr. Tira mentioned.

If officers transfer the bear to a different space, that would merely relocate the issue, he mentioned, including that each one the sanctuaries are too full to take Hank.

And that’s the level of competition between the California wildlife authorities and the residents of Tahoe Keys. Most of the residents need to see Hank despatched to a sanctuary and never euthanized, Ms. Bryant mentioned.

Black bears have roamed the world for generations. They’ve coexisted with the residents, who’ve discovered not to leave food out and to seal their trash in bear-proof containers. Nonetheless, bears have sometimes precipitated hassle within the space. In 2007, The New York Instances described the animals as “home wreckers.”

The bear state of affairs took a flip through the coronavirus pandemic, when some individuals moved to the world to work remotely. New residents weren’t all “as bear conscious as they need to be,” Mr. Tira mentioned. And after individuals fled South Lake Tahoe during the Caldor fire in September, the bears assumed the place of people, strolling the streets and testing houses, he mentioned.

Although the neighbors don’t need Hank to vandalize their houses, they need him to be handled with respect, Ms. Bryant mentioned. The state authorities took down a bear entice within the space after somebody spray painted “Bear Killer” on it.