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Researchers monitoring free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a mother bear taking in a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the annual polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"It's unusual," stated a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears researched for nearly five decades in that region.

The mother bear was first captured as she came out from her maternity den this springtime. Initially, she had a single offspring, which scientists marked for research.

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the original cub and a second that was untagged. Scientists are uncertain what became of the new cub's birth mother, but they are trying to locate her using genetic samples.

"The bears need all the help they can get these days with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and raise it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the population."

Polar bears in the wild only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into maturity, but having a mother caring for them improves their chances.

The cubs are reported as healthy, according to experts, and they will probably remain with their adoptive 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 youngsters will be taught from their mother how to hunt seals and live on their own.

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