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Scientists tracking wild polar bears in northern Canada observed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear journey along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"This is uncommon," remarked a researcher with an international bear organization. "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 4,600 bears studied for almost fifty years in that region.

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

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and a second that was untagged. Scientists aren't sure what became of the second cub's birth mother, but they are attempting to identify her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need all the help they can get in the current era with a warming climate," noted a wildlife biologist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up an additional youngster and raise 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 maternal figure caring for them boosts their chances.

The young bears are reported as healthy, researchers said, and they will likely 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 the frozen ocean, where the cubs will learn from their mother how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

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