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Notorious home invader 'Hank the Tank' captured in Lake Tahoe

By KTVU staff
Updated  August 5, 2023 8:40am PDT
Sierra Tahoe
KTVU FOX 2

'Hank the Tank' captured in Lake Tahoe

The South Lake Tahoe bear notorious for home invasions has been captured, officials said. 'Hank the Tank' is responsible for extensive property damage and at least 21 breaks-ins over the past year.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - ‘Hank the Tank,’ the massive bear notorious for home invasions in South Lake Tahoe, has been captured.

The female bear and her three cubs were safely caught Friday by biologists at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to a news release.

Hank the Tank is responsible for at least 21 break-ins and extensive property damage in the Tahoe area between February 2022 to May 2023, officials said. 

She will be relocated to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Springfield, Colorado, officials said. 

CDFW said her cubs, who have also shown conflict behavior, will potentially be released to a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Petaluma in hopes they can discontinue the negative behaviors they learned from their mother. Eventually they hope to release them back into the wild.

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