Authorities keep watch as bear takes refuge in Castaic Park tree

Fish and Wildlife authorities are playing the waiting game with a bear, currently holed up in a tree in a Castaic neighborhood.

The bear was first spotted near the Castaic Lake State Recreation Area Monday morning. SkyCAL was overhead as it emerged from a storm drain and ran around a park area before eventually making its way up the tree.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife earlier attempted to tranquilize the bear but now says its strategy has pivoted. Instead, it will wait for the bear to climb down and then escort it back to the wilderness. 

They said the bear was "very irritated."

It eventually hopped down the tree and tried to swim away from wildlife officers before climbing another tree.

Bears are not a rare sight in Southern California neighborhoods. Last year, a homeowner called police after seeing a bear rummaging through her kitchen in Sierra Madre. In Arcadia, a bear wandered into a backyard and in Monrovia, a bear was seen rummaging through trash cans and drinking from a fountain.

Another bear was filmed taking a dip in the pool at a home in Claremont.