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Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions observed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a female bear taking in 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 migration along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an area known for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," remarked a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of 4,600 bears researched for nearly five decades in the area.

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

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what happened to the second cub's birth mother, but they are trying to locate her using genetic samples.

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with a warming climate," commented a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and care for 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 surviving into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care improves their chances.

The cubs are reported as healthy, researchers said, and they will probably stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Next, the bear family is expected to head out to sea ice, where the youngsters will learn from their mother bear how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

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