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Scientists monitoring wild polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a female bear adopting a cub that was not genetically 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 journey along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"This is uncommon," remarked a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

It's only the thirteenth documented instance of fostering 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 springtime. Initially, she had a single offspring, which scientists tagged for study.

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Researchers aren't sure what happened to the new cub's biological mother, but they are trying to identify her using genetic samples.

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the chance to take in an additional youngster and care for it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the bears."

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

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

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

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