🔗 Share this article

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

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," remarked a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it is a rare event at all."

It's only the 13th known case of adoption 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 a single offspring, which researchers marked for research.

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the new cub's birth mother, but they are trying to identify her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with a warming climate," commented a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in 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 50% chance of surviving into maturity, but having a mother providing care improves their odds.

The cubs appear to be healthy, according to experts, and they will likely stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Following this, the bear family is anticipated to head out to sea ice, where the cubs will be taught from their mother bear how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

"It is heartening to know that the animals are looking out for each other," added the researcher.