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

The half-decade-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

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

The mother bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her birthing den this spring. At the time, she had a single offspring, which scientists tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Scientists are uncertain what became of the second cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to identify her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need every advantage they can get in the current era with a warming climate," noted a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the chance to take in 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 odds.

The young bears appear to be healthy, according to experts, and they will probably stay with their 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 how to catch prey and survive on their own.

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