A remarkable and rarely observed event took place in northern Canada this fall as researchers tracked polar bears: a mother polar bear was seen adopting a cub that was not her biological offspring.
The five-year-old mother and her two cubs were captured on camera during the annual polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay, near Churchill, Manitoba—a town renowned for its polar bear inhabitants.
According to Alyssa McCall, a scientist from Polar Bears International, It's unusual. We don't really know why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all. This case marks only the 13th recorded adoption out of the 4,600 bears studied over nearly five decades in the area.
The mother was first observed exiting her maternity den in the spring with one tagged cub. Surprisingly, in the fall, she appeared with a second cub that had not been tagged, leading researchers to investigate the fate of the new cub's biological mother through genetic samples.
The bears need all the help they can get these days with climate change, noted Evan Richardson, a polar bear scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. If females have the opportunity to pick up another cub and care for it, it's beneficial for bears in Churchill. With only a 50% chance of survival for cubs in the wild, maternal care considerably improves their odds.
Both cubs appear healthy and are expected to stay with their mother until approximately two-and-a-half years old. They will soon venture out to sea ice, where they will learn hunting techniques from her, essential for their survival. It's just nice to know that the bears are looking out for each other, Richardson added.
