It’s no secret that there are some pretty scenic train routes around the UK, showcasing everything from rugged Scottish countryside to the stunning Cornish coast.
But did you know there’s also a journey where you can see polar bears roaming about or taking a dip?
No, we haven’t lost our marbles. There really are polar bears in the UK and there are four that you can catch a glimpse of from behind train windows.
To be in with a chance of seeing one, you’ll want to head to London Liverpool Street and hop on a Greater Anglia train heading to Norwich. Or, if you’re in Norfolk, you’ll do the journey in reverse and take the train to London.
There are several stops along the way, but it’s specifically between Manningtree and Ipswich when you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled.
That’s because the giant carnivores can be found at Jimmy’s Farm and Wildlife Park, just a few miles outside of Ipswich.
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Their enclosure backs on to the main train line, giving passengers a prime viewing spot when the furry creatures are out and about.
Owned and run by farmer and TV presenter, Jimmy Doherty, the park also doubles as Europe’s largest polar bear reserve – although the 50-year-old claims he never planned to have these kinds of animals in his care.
In 2022, Orsa Predator Park in Sweden closed and its unsold animals were at risk of being put to sleep, including a polar bear named Ewa.
With alopecia and a broken claw, Ewa wasn’t able to be released back into the wild, which is when Jimmy stepped in.
He borrowed money from the bank to build an enclosure with a saltwater dipping pool plus two other lakes, two dens, a large natural woodland area and a state-of-the-art ventilated house and the bear was shipped from Sweden to Suffolk.
Since then, she’s been joined by Hope, who had also been at the Orsa Predator Park, as well as two other polar bears, Flocke and Tala who came from the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP).
The London to Norwich train line is taken by numerous commuters each day, so for many the Polar Bears will be a familiar site, but for others, they’ll be pretty unexpected.
In a recent TikTok video @bradleyt_28 proclaimed the bears the ‘best part’ of the train journey and his clip of them quickly went viral, garnering over 819,000 views and more than 67,000 likes.
In the comments people were baffled, with @saffarindia asking: ‘What da hell is a polar bear doing in Ipswich, England?’
Similarly, @alexlcfc02 posted: ‘Why do we have polar bears in 17 degree England?’
Others confessed they thought they’d been ‘hallucinating’ the first time they saw the bears, as @mythshroom7 wrote: ‘Okay listen this is my Roman Empire. I told my friends I saw polar bears and nobody believed me for months. When they finally saw them I felt so good you don’t understand.’
For those curious as to how the Arctic bears manage without the snow and ice, Jimmy’s Farm website states that summer temperatures in parts of the tundra reach highs of 26C and most bears ‘do not reside on the ice throughout the year’.
They add that the temperatures in Hudson Bay (polar bear country) can also get higher than those in Suffolk.
The bears at the farm are able to regulate their temperature by going into the shaded woodland and swimming in the deep pool.
In addition to polar bears, Jimmy’s Farm is also home to arctic foxes, arctic wolves, brown bears, lemurs, zebra, raccoons, capybara and anteaters, among others.
Those tempted to go polar bear spotting can take the London to Norwich train, with prices starting from £12 and the full journey along the line takes roughly an hour and 50 minutes, although their are fast 90 minute trains.
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