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Scientists monitoring free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions observed something exceedingly rare this fall: 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 yearly polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," remarked a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

It's only the thirteenth documented instance of fostering out of nearly five thousand bears studied for nearly five decades in the area.

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

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and a second that was untagged. Researchers 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 all the help they can get these days with a warming climate," commented a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the chance to pick up another cub and raise 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 adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care boosts their odds.

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

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

"It is heartening to know that the animals are looking out for each other," concluded the researcher.