🔗 Share this article

Researchers tracking free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"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."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of fostering out of 4,600 bears researched for nearly five decades in that region.

The mother bear was first captured as she came out from her maternity den this springtime. At the time, she had a single offspring, which researchers tagged for research.

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and a second without a tag. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the new cub's biological mother, but they are trying to locate her using genetic samples.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with a warming climate," commented a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the opportunity to pick up an additional youngster and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for the population."

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

The cubs appear to be in good condition, researchers said, and they will likely stay with their mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Following this, the bear family is anticipated to head out to sea ice, where the youngsters will learn from their mother bear how to catch prey and survive on their own.

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