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

The half-decade-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 Churchill, Manitoba, an area 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 doesn't happen often at all."

It's only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of 4,600 bears studied for nearly five decades in the area.

The mother bear was first captured as she came out from her birthing den this spring. 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 another that was untagged. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the new cub's birth mother, but they are trying to locate her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a polar bear scientist. "If females have the chance to take in an additional youngster and care for it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the bears."

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

The cubs appear to be healthy, according to experts, and they will probably stay with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Following this, the family is expected to venture out to sea ice, where the cubs will be taught from their mother bear how to hunt seals and live on their own.

"It is heartening to know that the animals are caring for each other," concluded the researcher.