500-pound black bear remains at large after breaking in to more than 3 dozen California homes

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Whether you know him as Yogi, Chunky, Hank the Tank, Jake or Big Guy, a 500-pound black bear’s days are numbered after officials confirmed that he has “lost all fear of people” and broken in to nearly 30 South Lake Tahoe homes in recent months.

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The bear has been linked to damage in at least 38 homes in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood during the past seven months and is responsible for dozens of calls to authorities, KGO reported.

In turn, the board of the Tahoe Keys property owners’ association voted Friday night to allow California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife to set traps in their neighborhood to capture the bear and euthanize it, Ann Bryant with the advocacy group Bear League told the TV station.

“We don’t want anybody to get hurt. Nobody wants that. We don’t want the bear to die either. This has to stop,” Bryant said.

Because the bear has become accustomed to humans and appears to consider them a source of easily accessible food, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has labeled it a “severely food-habituated” conflict bear, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to the newspaper, the Tahoe Keys bear broke into a home on Friday by squeezing through a small window while searching for food. Police banged on the outside of the home until he reemerged and left.

Read the complete Los Angeles Times report.

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