'Amazing sight': polar bear stuns scientists by adopting cub

Scientists in Canada have documented a rare case of a female polar bear adopting a new cub, in an episode of "curious behaviour" that highlights the complex relationships among the apex Arctic predators.

- Leyland Cecco

Polar Bears International, a nonprofit conservation group, said yesterday that when its researchers first placed a GPS collar on a female polar bear in the spring, she had one young cub. But when she was spotted with two cubs of roughly the same age last month, they realised they were witnessing an exceedingly rare case of adoption.

"Female polar bears are really good moms and so they're just primed for looking after and caring for their offspring," said Evan Richardson, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. "We think if there's a little cub that's bawling on the coast and has lost its mother, these females just can't help themselves but to take them on and look after them. It's a really curious behaviour and an interesting aspect of polar bear life history."