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Researchers tracking wild polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something exceedingly rare this fall: a female 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 known for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," remarked a scientist with an international bear organization. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of 4,600 bears researched for almost fifty years in that region.

The female bear was first captured as she emerged from her maternity den this springtime. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and a second that was untagged. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the new cub's birth mother, but they are trying to identify her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and care for it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the bears."

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

The young bears 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 expected to head out to sea ice, where the youngsters 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," concluded the scientist.