🔗 Share this article

Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something remarkably uncommon this autumn: a mother bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the annual polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"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 researched for nearly five decades in that region.

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

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and a second without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what became of the second cub's birth mother, but they are attempting to identify her using genetic samples.

"These animals need every advantage they can get these days with a warming climate," noted a wildlife biologist. "If females have the chance 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 fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into maturity, but having a maternal figure caring for them improves their chances.

The young bears are reported as in good condition, according to experts, and they will probably remain with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the bear family is anticipated to venture out to sea ice, where the youngsters will learn from their mother bear how to hunt seals and live on their own.

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