Overview
- The mother, identified as X33991, was documented with one tagged cub in spring and later filmed in mid-November near Churchill with a second, untagged cub.
- GPS tracking shows the mother and both cubs are now on Hudson Bay sea ice, and the cubs, estimated at 10–11 months old, are expected to remain with her until about 2.5 years of age.
- Genetic samples from the adopted cub have been collected to determine its biological mother, as past cases sometimes involved litter switching rather than true orphaning.
- Scientists say such adoptions are exceedingly rare, with only 13 cases recorded among roughly 4,600 bears monitored in the Western Hudson Bay population over nearly half a century.
- Researchers note that maternal care can boost a lone cub’s odds in a population where only about half of cubs reach adulthood, though historically few adopted cubs have survived long-term.