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Researchers tracking wild polar bears in northern Canada observed something exceedingly rare this fall: a female bear adopting a cub that was not biologically her own.

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

"It's unusual," stated a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

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

The mother bear was initially tagged as she came out from her birthing den this springtime. At the time, she had a single offspring, which researchers marked for study.

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another without a tag. Researchers aren't sure what happened to the second cub's birth 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 polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and care for it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the population."

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

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

Following this, the family is expected to head out to the frozen ocean, where the youngsters will be taught from their mother how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

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