Arctic Bear Mother Takes In Cub in Infrequently Recorded Case
Scientists monitoring wild polar bears in northern Canada observed something remarkably uncommon this autumn: a female bear taking in a cub that was not genetically her own.
The half-decade-old mother and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear journey along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.
"It's unusual," stated a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."
This represents only the 13th known case of fostering out of nearly five thousand bears studied for almost fifty years in that region.
The female bear was initially tagged as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had a single offspring, which researchers marked for study.
In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the original cub and a second that was untagged. Scientists are uncertain what became of the new cub's biological mother, but they are trying to identify her using DNA analysis.
"The bears need every advantage they can get these days with climate change," commented a polar bear scientist. "When mother bears have the chance to take in an additional youngster and care for it and see it to independence, it's a good thing 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 providing care boosts their odds.
The cubs appear to be in good condition, researchers said, and they will likely remain with their mother until they are about 30 months of age.
Following this, the family is expected to head out to sea ice, where the cubs will learn from their mother how to hunt seals and survive on their own.
"It's just nice to know that the bears are looking out for each other," concluded the scientist.
