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

The five-year-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"It's unusual," stated a researcher with an international bear organization. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of adoption out of 4,600 bears researched for almost fifty years in the area.

The mother bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her birthing den this spring. At the time, she had one cub, which researchers tagged for research.

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

"The bears need all the help they can get these days with climate change," commented a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the chance to pick up an additional youngster and raise it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the population."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into maturity, but having a mother caring for them boosts their odds.

The young bears are reported as in good condition, researchers said, and they will likely stay with their adoptive mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Following this, the bear family is expected to venture out to the frozen ocean, where the cubs will learn from their mother how to catch prey and survive on their own.

"It is heartening to know that the bears are caring for each other," concluded the scientist.