It's a Rare 'Feel-Good Story' About Polar Bears

With much of the polar bear population expected to vanish within the next 25 years, researchers say it's nice to see the animals are looking out for each other. Researchers stationed near Churchill, Manitoba, recently witnessed something they almost never see: a mother bear with a cub that isn't hers. A female first observed in March with a single cub was photographed again in mid-November in Wapusk National Park—this time with two young in tow, reports the CBC. Scientists quickly noticed the newcomer lacked the GPS tracking collars of the two others and, after genetic testing, confirmed the cub had been adopted.

It's just the 13th documented case of cub adoption in the western Hudson Bay polar bear population over 45 years of study involving more than 4,600 bears, per CBS News. As only about 10 female polar bears in the region are fitted with GPS collars each year, it's especially unusual for an adoption to be observed and verified in real time. Researchers estimate the mother—known as X33991, per IFL Science—is about five years old and both cubs are roughly 10 to 11 months. While they don't know what happened to the adoptee's biological mother, they suspect a powerful maternal drive explains why the lone cub was taken in.

Polar bears are known for strong parenting, says Environment and Climate Change Canada scientist Evan Richardson, who suggests a mother may be unable to ignore a distressed cub on the tundra. Cubs usually remain with their mothers for two to two-and-a-half years, learning how to hunt and survive. Without a mother, a cub's chances of surviving to adulthood are almost zero. The adoption therefore gives this cub a realistic shot at a longer life. Scientists say such rare adoptions matter even more as climate change shrinks sea ice and affects access to seals and other high-fat prey. "The bears need all the help they can get," Richardson says, per the CBC. "It's really a feel-good story," he adds, per CBS.