500lb bear named Yogi who has been causing havoc in Lake Tahoe divides residents

That’s one husky grizzly!

California wildlife authorities are facing complaints from residents in the resort town of Lake Tahoe of an enormous 500-pound black bear named Yogi who’s messing up more than picnic baskets in the area.  

The bear has prompted more than 150 calls to law enforcement and wildlife personnel in the area of late.   

‘This one individual bear has been linked to property damage at 38 different properties at least,’ Peter Tira from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told KCRA 3 in Sacramento.

Authorities add that the curvy cub has caused ‘extensive property damage and forcefully entered several homes – including occupied homes.’ 

Wildlife officials have tried to tamper Yogi’s wave of destruction by setting up traps but have been unable to contain him. 

‘The trapping activity is a measure of last resort to capture and euthanize a specific and what we call a severely habituated or human-food conditioned black bear,’ Tira noted.

There was outrage from residents over the bear hunt and even attempts to scare the bear away from the area by playing noisy music or even spray painting the phrase ‘Bear Killer’ on the trap.

A home in California that has faced Yogi’s wrath

A pro-bear activist group, The BEAR League, has been working with wildlife officials to try and get Yogi to a safe new home

A pro-bear activist group, The BEAR League, has been working with wildlife officials to try and get Yogi to a safe new home.  

‘The BEAR League reached out to the director of an excellent out-of-state wildlife sanctuary who agreed he has room and would be very willing to give this bear a permanent home,’ said executive director Ann Bryant. 

‘We notified [the California Department of Fish and Wildlife] on Tuesday morning asking that this option be seriously considered rather than killing the bear.’

Bryant notes, however, that sanctuaries are not a full-time solution and wants Tahoe residents to practice prevention.  

‘Homeowners and visitors need to do their part to keep the bears out of trouble so they can live wild and free,’ she said. 

‘The various reasons that the bears get into trouble is because people do this and they teach the bears that’s a good way to make a living.’ 

There was outrage from residents over the bear hunt and even attempts to scare the bear away from the area by playing noisy music or even spray painting the phrase ‘Bear Killer’ on the trap

The bear has caused caused ‘extensive property damage and forcefully entered several homes – including occupied homes’

This is another recent example of a bear attack on the west coast.  

An Oregon man took his own life after he accidentally shot dead his brother when he tried to defend himself against a black bear in his yard.   

The unidentified man was loading up his gun around 7am on February 8 when he ‘accidentally shot his brother,’ the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Police deputies located the man’s brother with gunshot wounds at a residence in the 2000 block of Placer Road in Sunny Valley. Upon ‘checking the residence,’ officers found the caller ‘with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.’ 

‘It is believed the caller took his own life after calling 911 to report the accidental shooting,’ the police report read. 

The investigation is ongoing and has been passed to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on a the 2000 block of Placer Road on Tuesday when a man called to report that he ‘accidentally shot his brother’ while he was trying to load a gun to protect them from a black bear on the property

Deputies found the man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the property and believes ‘the caller took his own life,’ the police report said 

The Sheriff’s Office told DailyMail.com on February 10 that there is ‘no further information available’ at this time. 

A bear sighting isn’t rare in the state, which is home to around 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, according to the Josephine County Parks Department, which calls Oregon ‘Black Bear Country.’   

The Parks Department said bear attacks are ‘uncommon’ and the animals typically ‘avoid human contact,’ but reminds the public that it is ‘never safe to approach a bear.’