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Scientists monitoring free-roaming polar bears in Canada's northern regions observed something exceedingly rare this autumn: a mother bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The five-year-old mother and her nearly year-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an area known for its polar bear population.

"It's unusual," stated a scientist with an international bear organization. "We don't really know why it occurs...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 almost fifty years in that region.

The mother bear was first captured as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers marked for study.

In the autumn, she was seen again, but this time with two cubs - the original cub and another without a tag. Scientists aren't sure what happened to the second cub's birth mother, but they are attempting to identify her using DNA analysis.

"These animals need every advantage they can get these days with a warming climate," noted a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and raise it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the bears."

Polar bears in the wild only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into maturity, but having a mother providing care boosts their odds.

The young bears appear to be healthy, researchers said, and they will probably remain 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 youngsters will learn from their mother how to hunt seals and live on their own.

"It's just nice to know that the bears are caring for each other," concluded the scientist.