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Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada observed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a mother bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of 4,600 bears studied for nearly five decades in the area.

The female bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had a single offspring, which researchers tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Researchers aren't sure what happened to the second cub's birth mother, but they are attempting to locate her using genetic samples.

"The bears need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the chance to take in another cub and care for it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the bears."

Polar bears in the wild only have a 50% chance of surviving into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care improves their odds.

The young bears are reported as healthy, researchers said, and they will probably remain with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the bear family is anticipated to head out to sea ice, where the cubs will be taught from their mother bear how to hunt seals and live on their own.

"It is heartening to know that the bears are caring for each other," concluded the researcher.