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Scientists monitoring free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this autumn: a female bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an area renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"This is uncommon," stated a scientist with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents 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 birthing den this springtime. Initially, she had one cub, which scientists tagged for research.

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and another without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what happened to the new cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to locate her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need every advantage 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 care for it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the population."

Polar bears in the wild only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care boosts their odds.

The young bears are reported as healthy, according to experts, and they will likely remain with their mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Following this, the family is expected to head out to the frozen ocean, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother bear how to catch prey and live on their own.

"It's just nice to know that the bears are caring for each other," concluded the researcher.