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Scientists tracking free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something exceedingly rare this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The half-decade-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration 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 researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears researched for nearly five decades in the area.

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

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another that was untagged. Scientists are uncertain what happened to the new cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to identify her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need all the help they can get these days with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster 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 fifty-fifty survival rate of living into adulthood, but having a maternal figure caring for them improves their odds.

The young bears appear to be healthy, researchers said, and they will probably stay with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

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

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