Mother and daughter polar bears join wildlife park

A wildlife park has welcomed two new polar bears as part of its conservation work.

Flocke, 16, and her daughter Tala, four, have been welcomed at Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park near Ipswich.

They will join polar bear Ewa, who was previously saved from a disbanded zoo in Sweden in October 2023.

The park's founder and CEO Jimmy Doherty said they were "settling in incredibly well".

"We are so proud to be their guardians and celebrate the contribution we, and other worldwide organisations are making, in one of the most important international conservation efforts of our generation," Mr Doherty said.

Park director Stevie Sheppard added: "Polar bears are the flagship animal of climate change and by housing them here in Suffolk, we can educate visitors on the devastating effects on our planet."

The two polar bears, hand-reared at Nuremberg Zoo in Germany, have joined the park as part of a European programme to conserve and safeguard populations of threatened species.

They have been placed in the Lost Lands of the Tundra enclosure, which also has reindeer, arctic wolves and arctic foxes.

This enclosure, with three large lakes, "intertwines with the existing natural landscapes and incorporates woodland and natural springs", according to the park.

The two new bears will slowly be introduced to Ewa.

Mr Doherty previously said the enclosure cost nearly £1m and was now the largest polar bear reserve in Europe.

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