{"id":189834,"date":"2025-12-17T18:46:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/189834\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:46:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:46:08","slug":"scientists-log-rare-case-of-female-polar-bear-adopting-cub-theyre-really-good-moms-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/189834\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists log rare case of female polar bear adopting cub: \u2018They\u2019re really good moms\u2019 | Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists in Canada<\/a> have documented a rare case of female polar bear adopting a new cub, in an episode of \u201ccurious behaviour\u201d that highlights the complex relationships among the apex Arctic predators.<\/p>\n

Polar Bears International, a non-profit conservation group, said on Wednesday that when they 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 realized they were witnessing an exceedingly rare case of adoption.<\/p>\n

\u201cFemale polar bears are really good moms and so they\u2019re just primed for looking after and caring for their offspring,\u201d said Evan Richardson, a research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada<\/a>. \u201cWe think if there\u2019s a little cub that\u2019s bawling on the coast and has lost its mother, these females just can\u2019t help themselves but to take them on and look after them. It\u2019s a really curious behaviour and an interesting aspect of polar bear life history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mother, known to scientists as bear X33991, and the cubs are part of the Western Hudson Bay polar bear subpopulation, which is among the most studied in the world, with scientists documenting their feeding habits and movements for nearly half a century. Of the 4,600 bears studied over the years, the adoption is only the 13th ever witnessed in the population.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolar bear adoptions are very rare and unusual and we don\u2019t know why they happen,\u201d said Alysa McCall, of Polar Bears International, calling it an \u201camazing\u201d sight to witness.<\/p>\n

The two cubs, which appear healthy and well-nourished are believed to be 10 or 11 months old and are expected to stay with their mother for another 1.5 years.<\/p>\n

GPS data show the three bears are already on the sea ice. The cubs will rely on their mother to catch seals and often share in the food she provides or teaches them to eat. They will stick close by and gradually learn the skills needed to survive in a harsh but at times bountiful environment.<\/p>\n

A winter spent on the ice hunting for prey \u2013 and months in the summer without any food \u2013 are a difficult existence for even the hardiest bears. Half of all cubs born won\u2019t make it to adulthood.<\/p>\n

\"HowHow scientists capture a polar bear \u2013 video<\/p>\n

But experts say having a mother now gives the adopted cub a far greater chance of surviving. Still of the 13 cases documented over 45 years, only three have survived.<\/p>\n

Researchers plan to study genetic samples from the cub to determine if the mother is known to them, and could still be alive. In some previous adoption cases, biological mothers were still alive and a \u201cswitching of litters\u201d had occurred, rather than the cub being orphaned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might never know what happened to the mother,\u201d said McCall. \u201cWhen we confirmed this was an adoption, I had a lot of mixed feelings. But it\u2019s just another reason why this species is so incredible and why they\u2019re so fascinating and interesting. It gives you a lot of hope when you realize that maybe, polar bears are looking out for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists in Canada have documented a rare case of female polar bear adopting a new cub, in an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":{"0":"post-189834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}