A recent beaver catch in Baker Lake, along with this summer’s earlier beaver sighting near Kugluktuk, more than 1,000 kilometres northwest of Baker Lake, have some wondering whether beavers are expanding their range into Nunavut.

The Baldwin Peninsula near Kotzebue has seen a massive increase in beavers over the last two decades, according to new research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

How the beavers got to the Baldwin Peninsula, which is surrounded by salt water and extends north of the Arctic Circle, is anyone’s guess.

In Gachuurt Village in Bayanzurkh district, beavers are being introduced to restore the headwaters of the Tuul River, the main drinking water source of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.

Climate change may be enabling beavers to move deeper into the Arctic. And as they move, they magnify climate change’s effects.

Beavers live in every province of Canada, every U.S. state and into northern Mexico. Range maps now need to be redrawn to include areas north of treeline in Alaska and Canada.