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Some unlikely neighbours are moving in around the northernmost communities of the Northwest Territories, across the icy tundra of Canada’s High Arctic.

Inuvialuit hunters and trappers say grizzly bears are showing up in increasing numbers on islands of the Beaufort Sea and experts say climate change is likely a driving factor.

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“The grizzly bears are moving into new areas,” said Vernon Amos, chairman of the Inuvialuit game council, in an interview from Inuvik, N.W.T.

At about 3,400 residents, Inuvik is the most populous community within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region that stretches across about 100,000 square kilometres of land.

Grizzlies have long roamed the four mainland Inuvialuit communities, including Inuvik, but there are more of them and they’re appearing for the first time around the two more northerly communities of Sachs Harbour and Ulukhaktok, he said.

Amos, 42, grew up in Sachs Harbour and says the ecosystem has changed significantly over his lifetime. While the seasonal freeze used to begin in August, this year it occurred toward the end of September or early October — an increasingly common occurrence, he said.