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Researchers monitoring wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this autumn: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not biologically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and filmed 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.

"It's unusual," remarked a researcher with an international bear organization. "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 fostering out of 4,600 bears studied for nearly five decades in the area.

The female bear was first captured as she came out from her maternity den this spring. At the time, she had one cub, which researchers marked for study.

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

"The bears need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," commented a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in another cub and care for it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the population."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a 50% chance of living into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care improves their odds.

The cubs appear to be healthy, according to experts, and they will probably stay with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the bear family is anticipated to head out to the frozen ocean, where the cubs will learn from their mother how to catch prey and live on their own.

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