Polar Bear Mother Adopts Youngster in Rarely Documented Case
Scientists tracking free-roaming polar bears in northern Canada witnessed something exceedingly rare this fall: a mother bear adopting a cub that was not genetically her own.
The five-year-old maternal bear and her 10- to 11-month-old cubs were observed and filmed during the annual polar bear migration along the Western Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, an locale renowned for its concentration of Arctic bears.
"It's unusual," stated a scientist with a polar bear conservation group. "We don't really know why it occurs...but we know it doesn't happen often at all."
This represents only the 13th known case of adoption out of nearly five thousand bears studied for nearly five decades in that region.
The female bear was first captured as she came out from her birthing den this springtime. At the time, she had a single offspring, which researchers marked for study.
In the autumn, she was seen again, but this time with a pair of cubs - the initially tagged cub and another that was untagged. Researchers aren't sure what happened to the new cub's birth mother, but they are trying 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 polar bear scientist. "If females have the opportunity to take in another cub and raise it and see it to independence, it's a good thing for the bears."
Polar bears in the natural world only have a 50% chance of living into adulthood, but having a maternal figure providing care improves their chances.
The cubs appear to be in good condition, according to experts, and they will likely remain with their adoptive mother until they are about two-and-a-half years old.
Following this, the bear family is anticipated to venture out to the frozen ocean, where the youngsters will learn from their mother bear how to hunt seals and survive on their own.
"It's just nice to know that the animals are looking out for each other," concluded the researcher.
