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Scientists tracking wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a female bear taking in a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were observed and filmed during the yearly polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," remarked a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of fostering out of 4,600 bears studied for almost fifty years in the area.

The mother bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had one cub, which scientists tagged for study.

In the autumn, she was seen again, but this time with two cubs - the original cub and another that was untagged. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the second cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to locate her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with climate change," commented a wildlife biologist. "If females have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the bears."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into maturity, but having a maternal figure providing care boosts their chances.

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

Following this, the bear family is expected to head out to the frozen ocean, where the cubs will learn from their mother bear how to hunt seals and live on their own.

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