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Scientists monitoring free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada observed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a researcher with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of fostering out of 4,600 bears studied for nearly five decades in the area.

The female bear was initially tagged as she came out from her maternity den this springtime. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers tagged for research.

In the autumn, she was seen again, 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 new cub's birth mother, but they are trying to identify her using genetic samples.

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to pick up an additional youngster and care for it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the bears."

Polar bears in the wild only have a 50% chance of surviving into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care boosts their chances.

The young bears appear to be in good condition, according to experts, and they will likely stay with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the family is expected to venture out to the frozen ocean, where the cubs 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," concluded the scientist.