Polar Bear Mother Adopts Youngster in Infrequently Recorded Instance

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

The half-decade-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near Churchill, Manitoba, an area known for its concentration of Arctic bears.

"It's unusual," stated a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it occurs...but we know it is a rare event at all."

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

The female bear was first captured as she came out from her maternity den this spring. At the time, she had one cub, which researchers marked for research.

In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with two cubs - the initially tagged cub and another that was untagged. Researchers are uncertain what happened to the second cub's biological mother, but they are trying to identify her using DNA analysis.

"The bears need all the help they can get in the current era with a warming climate," noted a polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and care for it and successfully wean it, it's a positive development for the population."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into adulthood, but having a mother providing care improves their odds.

The cubs appear to be in good condition, according to experts, and they will probably remain with their adoptive mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Next, 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 live on their own.

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