Bear camped out in tree behind North Carolina liquor store

June 22 (UPI) -- Wildlife officials in North Carolina are encouraging residents to give a young black bear space after it was spotted in a tree behind a liquor store.

Hickory Police Department received calls about the approximately 1-year-old, 80-pound bear at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday and the bear made its way into a tree behind a local ABC store on Wednesday morning.

"We have a diverse customer clientele, but not this," ABC employee Les Carpenter told WSOC.

The bear eventually climbed down from the tree after a group of onlookers gathered in the area and wildlife officers are attempting to get it to climb back into the tree for its own safety.

"He's come down here in search of food," Matthew Lee, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission said. "He's got some human contact. He's more scared of us then we are of him."

Wildlife commission biologist Brad Howard told the Hickory Record the bear likely climbed into the tree after becoming overwhelmed by the busy city life and would hopefully find its way back into the wilderness at night.

"I think he's going to try the easiest path that he can find to get out of town, whatever that might be," he said.

Howard added that bear sightings are likely to become more common in Hickory as the residential area continues to share more space with the bear's habitat.

"The bear population is really close to us now, so this is going to become more and more common in Hickory for us to see bears and to see bears in town," he said.