California police are searching for Hank, a large brown bear they call Tank, after the animal broke into several homes in a Lake Tahoe neighborhood last summer.
This bear burglar weighs 227 kilograms, far heavier than the average bear, and appears to have skipped hibernation since it had a constant source of food.
He may need to be put to sleep because he feels very comfortable around people, according to local authorities.
Associations for the protection of wild animals believe that it should be moved to a reserve.
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Hank earned his nickname for forcing his way into locked homes, using his strength and size to open house and garage doors.
The media nicknamed him "King Henry," and Hank is "easy to recognize because of his unusual size, dark fur and lighter muzzle," according to the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.
Common non-contact methods of scaring bears such as using fake ammunition, sirens, and a stun gun (which "makes a click-clack sound that bears hate") didn't work with Hank.
Hank must have reached that weight because of his large appetite for human-eatable food, as brown bears generally weigh 45 to 136 kilograms, according to the Bear League, a wildlife conservation group.
They are urging authorities to trap Hank and move him to a wildlife sanctuary instead of killing him, and urge Lake Tahoe residents to pay more attention to securing food and trash in their homes.
"It's easier to find leftover pizza than to look for food in the woods," Peter Tira, a spokesman for the California Fish and Wildlife Service, told The New York Times.
More than 150 people reported Hank to officials.
He broke into almost 40 homes in six months, and in some cases caused more property damage.
"I've lived in this town for 40 years, I've never locked a door, and I just recently started doing it," resident Tim Johnson told CBS News after Hank broke into his home Friday night.
"If we don't feed it anymore, it will happen less and less," he added.
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