Researchers in northern Canada have documented a rare case of a polar bear mother adopting a cub. The team from the conservation group Polar Bears International had placed a GPS collar on the female in the spring; then, she had one cub. But last month, when they spotted her again, on Western Hudson Bay, she had two. The pair are roughly the same age, at about 11 months old, and seem in good health. With no mother to give them food or teach them to hunt, orphaned or abandoned cubs rarely survive. This one now has a fighting chance, said the team. “It gives you a lot of hope when you realise that polar bears may be looking out for each other,” said PBI conservationist Alysa McCall.