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Jimmy Doherty says polar bear enclosure cost nearly £1m

Jimmy's Farm Jimmy Doherty of Jimmy's FarmJimmy's Farm
Jimmy Doherty says he had to put his property up as collateral for bank loan to fund the new polar bear enclosure

TV presenter Jimmy Doherty has said he used his property as collateral on a "substantial loan" to build an enclosure for a polar bear.

Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, near Ipswich, is now home to Ewa the female polar bear, who would have been put down if she had not been rescued.

The new enclosure has cost nearly £1m, Mr Doherty revealed.

The attraction is now fundraising to save Diego, a European brown bear, from the same zoo in Sweden as Ewa.

The Lost Lands of the Tundra is now Europe's biggest polar bear reserve and will also feature other animals including the park's arctic wolves.

Sophie Ryder Ewa the polar bear in a lakeSophie Ryder
The polar bear enclosure at Jimmy's Farm has cost nearly £1m says owner Jimmy Doherty

"I put my property up against it to get quite a substantial bank loan but I've got to say the support of the local community has been unbelievable," Mr Doherty said.

Both Ewa and Diego faced being put down after their last home at Orsa Predator Park in Sweden shut down in November 2022.

More than £52,000 has been raised so far towards a £70,000 target to build an enclosure for Diego.

Orsa Predator Park Diego, a brown bear, lying on a rock in Orsa Predator ParkOrsa Predator Park
Jimmy's Farm is fundraising to help rescue Diego the brown bear from Orsa Predator Park in Sweden

"When I was there visiting Ewa I was introduced to Diego and I think the wildlife keepers there did it on purpose because they knew it was really going to pull the heartstrings.

"They said 'please can you take Diego because he is the last bear we have got left and he's going to be put down'," Mr Doherty added.

The realisation a healthy animal could be put down spurred Mr Doherty and his team to think "we've got to try and raise the money to do this".

Mr Doherty, who has presented TV shows including Jimmy's Farm and Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast, told BBC Radio Suffolk, the response to the campaign has been "mind blowing".

In Devon the Wildwood Trust will look after Diego during the winter while he hibernates, with the aim of waking up to a brand new enclosure in Suffolk in 2024.

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