Arctic Bear Maternal Figure Takes In Cub in Infrequently Recorded Case
Researchers monitoring wild polar bears in Canada's northern regions witnessed something remarkably uncommon this fall: a female bear taking in a cub that was not genetically her own.
The five-year-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were spotted and filmed during the annual polar bear migration along the Hudson Bay's western shore near the Manitoba town of Churchill, an locale known for its polar bear population.
"This is uncommon," remarked a researcher with an international bear organization. "The reasons are unclear why it happens...but we know it is a rare event at all."
It's only the 13th known case of adoption out of 4,600 bears researched for nearly five decades in that region.
The female bear was first captured as she emerged from her maternity den this spring. Initially, she had one cub, which researchers tagged for research.
In the fall, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and a second without a tag. Researchers aren't sure what became of the new cub's biological mother, but they are attempting to locate her using DNA analysis.
"These animals need all the help they can get in the current era with a warming climate," commented a wildlife biologist. "If females have the chance to take in an additional youngster and raise it and see it to independence, it's a positive development for the bears."
Polar bears in the wild only have a fifty-fifty survival rate of surviving into maturity, but having a mother caring for them improves their chances.
The young bears appear to be healthy, 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 sea ice, where the cubs will learn from their mother how to hunt seals and live on their own.
"It's just nice to know that the animals are caring for each other," concluded the scientist.
