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Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada 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 journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"It's unusual," remarked a scientist 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 adoption out of 4,600 bears studied for nearly five decades in that region.

The mother bear was first captured as she emerged from her birthing den this spring. At the time, she had a single offspring, which researchers marked for study.

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the original cub and a second without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what became of the new cub's biological mother, but they are trying to identify her using genetic samples.

"These animals need all the help they can get these days with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and care for it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for the bears."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into maturity, but having a maternal figure providing care boosts their chances.

The cubs are reported as healthy, researchers said, and they will probably stay with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Following this, the family is anticipated to venture out to sea ice, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother how to catch prey and survive on their own.

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