A notorious, “extremely food-habituated” 500lb female black bear known as Hank the Tank has been detained in the Lake Tahoe area of California more than a year after the wildlife equivalent of an APB was issued by the state’s wildlife authorities.
Hank, who was initially misgendered as a male, was matched by DNA to more than 21 home break-ins and other instances of property damage in the Lake Tahoe region since 2022. She was “safely immobilized” by tranquilizer dart and apprehended on Friday morning, according to state officials, and will now be moved to a sanctuary in southern Colorado.
“Given the widespread interest in this bear, and the significant risk of a serious incident involving the bear, [the California department of fish and wildlife] is employing an alternative solution to safeguard the bear family as well as the people in the South Lake Tahoe community,” the statement said.
Hank, technically known to the state as bear 64F, may now lose custody of her three cubs as they may be transferred to a facility in California’s Sonoma county “in hopes they can discontinue the negative behaviors”.
But 64F was not, as authorities initially thought, solely responsible for the break-ins.
“I guess they all technically are ‘Hank the Tank,’” Jordan Traverso, a spokeswoman for the department, told the New York Times. Traverso added that the “other Hanks” have not “presented themselves as problems” in the community this year.
Trackers with the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW) have said they now believe two other bears are involved in a spate of property rampages. Last year, at least 102 police complaints were filed by local residents.
Before she was apprehended, authorities had tried sirens, de-activated tasers and beanbag rounds to deter the marauder. They described a bear that had “lost all fear of people” and was therefore “potentially dangerous”.
But there was also the question over what the 64F bear was eating. Ann Bryant, executive director of Bear League, a California-based wildlife rescue service, noted that the troublesome ursus “didn’t get fat like that eating berries and grubs”.
The answer, of course, was that 64F had developed her palate for eating human food. The bear, said Bryant, “just sits there and eats”.
