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

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear journey along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"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 13th known case of fostering 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 spring. Initially, she had a single offspring, which scientists marked for research.

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

"These animals need all the help they can get in the current era with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and care for it and successfully wean it, 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 maternal figure providing care boosts their chances.

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

Following this, the bear family is anticipated to head out to sea ice, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother bear how to catch prey and survive on their own.

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