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Scientists monitoring free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a female bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the annual polar bear journey along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale known for its polar bear population.

"It's unusual," stated a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it occurs...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

It's only the 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears studied for nearly five decades in that region.

The mother bear was initially tagged as she came out from her birthing den this springtime. Initially, she had a single offspring, which scientists marked for study.

In the autumn, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and another without a tag. Scientists are uncertain what became of the second cub's biological mother, but they are trying to locate her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need every advantage they can get these days with climate change," commented a wildlife biologist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the population."

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

The young bears appear to be healthy, researchers said, and they will likely stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

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

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