🔗 Share this article

Researchers monitoring wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not biologically 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 area renowned for its polar bear population.

"It's unusual," stated 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 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears researched for nearly five decades in that region.

The mother bear was first captured as she came out from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers tagged for study.

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and another that was untagged. Scientists aren't sure what happened to the second cub's biological 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," noted a wildlife biologist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for the bears."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a 50% chance of living into maturity, but having a maternal figure caring for them improves their chances.

The young bears are reported as in good condition, researchers said, and they will likely remain with their adoptive mother until they are about 30 months of age.

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

"It's just nice to know that the animals are looking out for each other," added the scientist.