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

The five-year-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the annual polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area renowned for its polar bear population.

"It's unusual," stated 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."

This represents only the 13th known case 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 maternity den this springtime. At the time, she had one cub, which scientists tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the original cub and another that was untagged. Scientists aren't sure what happened to the second cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to locate her using genetic samples.

"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 good thing for the bears."

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

The cubs appear to be in good condition, according to experts, and they will probably stay with their mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the bear family is expected to venture out to the frozen ocean, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

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