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Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions observed something exceedingly rare this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"It's unusual," remarked a scientist with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of fostering out of nearly five thousand bears researched for almost fifty years in the area.

The female bear was first captured as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers marked for research.

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

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for the bears."

Polar bears in the wild only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into adulthood, but having a mother providing care improves their chances.

The cubs appear to be in good condition, researchers said, and they will probably remain with their mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

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

"It's just nice to know that the bears are caring for each other," added the scientist.