North American grizzly bears have been found in the most remote parts of Canada's Arctic Northwest Territories, where locals have never seen them before. This was announced by the CTV channel.
Brown predators near their settlements are increasingly noticed by representatives of the northern peoples of Canada, who live near the Beaufort Sea. For example, hunters from the Inuvik settlement - the largest settlement of the indigenous inhabitants of Canada in this part of the country, where about 3, 4 thousand people live - have already informed the scientists that, along with their usual polar bears, they saw grizzly bears. Moreover, they were found on Victoria Island and on the small island of Banks, where the settlement of Sachs Harbor is located.
Experts believe that the appearance of grizzly bears in these areas may be associated with climate change and the melting of glaciers. "Climate change is the first thing that comes to mind, but right now we can't say for sure if it really is," said Doug Clark, associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan and environmental researcher. Grizzlies have also taken a fancy to the Hudson Bay area in recent years, but it is located much south of the northern islands of the Northwest Territories, he said. The specialist added that scientists have already asked hunters from Inuvik and other settlements to install video cameras in places where they saw brown bears in order to start studying the migration of these animals.
However, climate change was not the only reason for the departure of grizzlies from the forests of Canada to the icy northern regions of the country. According to the University of Victoria specialist Brian Starzomsky, the migration of bears could have been influenced by the increased frequency of forest fires in recent years, as well as by human activities. He also did not rule out that birds, insects and fish, which have never lived here before, may appear in these Arctic regions of Canada. At the same time, the scientist added that it is too early to draw unambiguous conclusions.
According to preliminary estimates, about 25 thousand grizzlies live in Canada. Their main habitat is in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, but predators can also be found in northern Manitoba and in the arctic regions of Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
