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Scientists monitoring wild polar bears in northern Canada observed something exceedingly rare this fall: a female bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a researcher with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of fostering out of nearly five thousand bears studied for almost fifty years in the area.

The mother bear was initially tagged as she came out from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had a single offspring, which scientists tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another that was untagged. Scientists aren't sure what became of the new cub's biological mother, but they are trying to locate her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need every advantage they can get these days with climate change," noted a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the chance to pick up another cub and care for 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 maturity, but having a mother providing care improves their chances.

The cubs appear to be healthy, researchers said, and they will likely stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Following this, the family is anticipated to venture out to sea ice, where the youngsters will learn from their mother how to catch prey and live on their own.

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