Arctic Bear Mother Takes In Youngster in Infrequently Documented Case

Scientists monitoring wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something exceedingly rare this fall: a female bear adopting a cub that was not biologically her own.

The half-decade-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were observed and captured on camera during the yearly polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its polar bear population.

"This is uncommon," stated a researcher with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it happens...but we know it is a rare event at all."

This represents only the thirteenth documented instance of adoption out of 4,600 bears studied for almost fifty years in the area.

The mother bear was initially tagged as she came out from her birthing den this spring. At the time, she had a single offspring, which scientists marked for study.

In the fall, she was spotted once more, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and another without a tag. Researchers aren't sure what happened to the second cub's birth mother, but they are attempting to locate her using genetic samples.

"These animals need every advantage they can get in the current era with climate change," noted a wildlife biologist. "When mother bears have the chance to take in an additional youngster and raise it and successfully wean it, it's a good thing for the population."

Polar bears in the natural world only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of living into adulthood, but having a mother caring for them improves their odds.

The cubs are reported as in good condition, researchers said, and they will probably remain with their adoptive mother until they are about 30 months of age.

Next, the bear family is anticipated to venture out to the frozen ocean, 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 animals are looking out for each other," concluded the researcher.