Why Should the Big Dummy Die?

Hank the Tank, a bigger-than-average bear, is so good at finding food he doesn’t bother to hibernate. Hank has been living off the largesse of the not-too-bright residents 0f Tahoe Keys, a gated community in South Lake Tahoe, CA, who can’t stop accidentally feeding him.

Hank has been breaking into houses – at least 28 since last July – feasting on leftovers and whatever else isn’t locked away. Normally a bear will pack it on in summer and sleep it off in winter, but if a bear has access to food, he’ll sometimes skip the hibernation part, as Hank has done. The average western black bear weighs between 100-300 pounds; Hank tips the scales at a whopping 500 pounds.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the local cops have tried a number of tactics to shoo Hank from town – paintballs, bean bags, sirens, Tasers – but he’s not going anywhere as long as there’s food readily, easily available.

If Hank’s pantry raids continue, the town’s guardians say they’ll just have to euthanize him. Really? It’s not difficult to bear-proof your home and garbage cans, but apparently many newcomers to the area, Covid refugees from more urban habitats, can’t figure that out.

Ann Bryant, executive director of the Bear League, a wildlife rescue service, told the New York Times that Hank has been mostly polite when he interacts with humans. “He just sits there and eats,” she said. “He doesn’t attack them. He doesn’t growl.

He doesn’t make rude faces.” Asks Bryant: “Why should this big dummy die?”

He shouldn’t. The Bear League and many townspeople want Hank to be spared. They say there is an appropriate sanctuary in Colorado willing to take him in if the Department of Fish and Wildlife gives the okay to relocate. That’s probably the only possible happy ending to Hank’s story. There’s a petition going around calling for it: www.change.org/p/save-500-lb-black-bear-in-south-tahoe-keys.

Photo credit: Bear League