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Scientists tracking free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and filmed during the yearly polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

It's only the 13th known case of fostering out of 4,600 bears studied for almost fifty years in the area.

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

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what became of the second cub's birth mother, but they are trying to locate her using genetic samples.

"The bears need every advantage they can get these days with a warming climate," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the chance to take in another cub and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the population."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into adulthood, but having a mother caring for them boosts their chances.

The cubs are reported as in good condition, researchers said, and they will likely remain with their mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

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

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