#hank the tank

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

You may notice I frequently comment on the assumptions people make about animal facilities based on their branding. Frequently, people assume accredited facilities are inherently better for animals than unaccredited facilities, or assume sanctuaries are inherently more moral / better at caring for their animals than zoos.

I want to show you an example of why I am always, always skeptical of these assumptions.

If you’re in the California area, you might have heard about Hank the Tank - who is actually a Henrietta, btw - the 500 pound nuisance bear from Lake Tahoe who broke into 21 homes in search of food. She was recently captured by wildlife officials and moved to a sanctuary in Colorado. The Wild Animal Sanctuary has three main facilities, two in Colorado and one in TX. To give you some context, it’s the biggest carnivore sanctuary in the country - they advertise somewhere between 300-500 animals, mostly large carnivores, between their properties. It’s where most of the Tiger King cats went. It’s PETA’s preferred placement for confiscated exotic animals. So, obviously, it’s got to be great, right? Except… take a look at what they posted about Henrietta’s arrival.

Here’s their post about Henrietta’s arrival at the Refuge, the large facility in Colorado that isn’t open to the public. Let’s take a closer look at that food trough…

What do we see here? An entire rotisserie chicken that is either blackened or highly seasoned, and a whole ham. Maybe a second chicken underneath the pile, I can’t quite tell. The sanctuary gets the majority of their bear food donated from groceries stores once it’s past the sell-by date, so we know those are older meats and they’re full of a ton of salt. Then, for fruit and veg, there’s a cantaloupe, mango, corn, avocado, grapes, and apples. Maybe a pepper or two, it’s hard to tell. That’s a lot of sugar and not a lot of fiber or roughage.

But… on top of it and to the right… are those Twizzlers?

Yes.

The sanctuary confirmed on Facebook that they fed this recently rescued obese bear what looks like almost an entire pack of Twizzlers.

I don’t know of any world in which it’s appropriate to feed candy to a bear. Maybe a piece or two as a really high value reinforcer for hard behaviors (that isn’t relevant here, it’s openly against this sanctuary’s ethos to do any husbandry or medical training). An entire pack of Twizzlers is just appalling. But it’s not uncommon for this facility! I have a book written about their operations and animal care (that I bought at their gift shop this spring) which openly discusses how the bears get fed bread, doughnuts, marshmallows, and all sorts of incredibly unhealthy food that comes in with the grocery donations.

But hey, this is apparently fine for the bears, according to the sanctuary’s founder. He was quoted in that same book as saying ���Bears are the only animal I know of that can eat insane amounts of sugar and it never hurts them. It does not hurt their organs. They do not get clogged arteries. They do not have high blood pressure. In the wild they eat all these sweet berries in the fall, and they convert sugar to fat… so the more sugar they get the better… we would all love to have a system like that!”

Now while it’s true that bears have physiological adaptations that modulate their insulin production and sensitivity in ways that appear to prevent them from from developing diabetes, that does’t mean it’s healthy for them to regularly eat processed carbohydrates, sugar, and general junk food. And remember - Henrietta gained her fame because of how incredibly overweight she already is, and because she was seeking out human food, According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a healthy weight for a normal adult black bear is between 100-300 pounds. So, obviously, the best thing to do is… continue to feed her candy.

Then, later on in the book, it details how they have to bribe a camel to sit tight for a regular medical examination (since they don’t train for medical behaviors) by letting him drink a can of Mountain Dew each time.

If a zoo was known publicly to be feeding their animals Mountain Dew or a couple Twizzlers - even just once, on a rare occasion - they’d be eviscerated in the media and by public opinion. But feeding out inappropriate junk food appears to be a pretty common practice at this place, and it just goes unscrutinized because everyone assumes sanctuaries are inherently better for animals.

So, long story short, never make assumptions about the quality of a facility based on it’s branding or accreditation. (TWAS is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries). If you have concerns about the ethics or practices of a facility, always try to put your preconceptions aside, go and see for yourself, and think critically about what you see and what you’re told.

[bearotonin-international]

i would like to see your roundest bear

Hankerson the Tankerson (aka Hank the Tank) is extremely round

[ironnyan]

God forbid women do anything

[beardedmrbean]

Been a bit since there's been a proper Fat Bear Friday post, but that good news girl is here to help us fix that

[pd-characters-of-the-day]

Since famous animals can't be copyright,that means Flamingo No. 492 aka Pink Floyd and Hank the Tank are public domain

[lizardsexposed]

FREE MY BOI

[ourlordandsavior-celinedion]

Free him

[onetrueartform]

One wide boi

[boypussylegendary]

i wonder if hank the tank knows that i love him <3

[fleecy-fawkes91]

So, every night Hank climbs up onto my lap for lap time, or as my husband calls it "paying rent". There's no set time, it's just anytime after his dinner he'll make his way into the living room and up the couch.

Well, tonight I was folding laundry when Hank decided it was lap time and he was not going to wait. So he picked his way around my stacks of folded clothes and shoved his way onto my lap. Laundry was temporarily put on hold until his lap time needs had been met, and his rent paid lol.

[tarthall]

I need all of you to know about my favorite bear Henrietta, more commonly known online as hank the tank

[yuusoul]

Hello guys it's me Hank the tank, remember to be nice to everyone and love your friends, stay hydrated

she let me hit cuz i'm brave

[venom--angel]

A little man

[beardedmrbean]

Free mah girl

[internettoday]

New episode of Weeky Weird News, this time covering

Snakes and Hawks teaming up to attack one very unlucky woman

The Profiling of Hank The Tank

The Right hating Jesus

An AI recipe bot that can kill you

Plus the weirdest headlines from around the world

[diabolicalrabbit]

(via Funny - Hank The Tank A Bear Responsible For 21 Home Invasions)

Find more at DiabolicalRabbit.Com