Arctic Bear Mother Adopts Cub in Rarely Documented Instance

Scientists tracking wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a female bear taking in a cub that was not biologically her own.

The five-year-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the yearly polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an area known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"It's unusual," remarked a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."

This represents only the 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears studied for nearly five decades in that region.

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

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and another that was untagged. Researchers are uncertain what became of the second cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to identify her using genetic samples.

"The bears need all the help they can get these days with climate change," noted a wildlife biologist. "If females have the opportunity to take in an additional youngster and raise it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the bears."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into adulthood, but having a maternal figure caring for them improves their chances.

The cubs appear to be healthy, according to experts, and they will likely stay with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.

Next, the bear family is expected to venture out to the frozen ocean, where the youngsters will learn from their mother bear how to hunt seals and survive on their own.

"It's just nice to know that the animals are caring for each other," added the researcher.