In 2000, only one of these Arctic beasts was resident in the UK. Now there are 16. Is there any benefit to captivity for this climate-ravaged species?
A small boy calls out the sights as the train speeds through the Suffolk countryside from London Liverpool Street.
“Tractor. Church. Pigs. Polar bear! Dad! A polar bear!”
Sailors visit the polar bear enclosure at London zoo in 1930. Below: a bear at Dudley Zoo in Worcestershire, 1937 (left), and Brumas, the first baby polar bear to be successfully reared in the UK, at London Zoo in 1950. Photographs: Fox/Getty Images; Mirrorpix/Getty Images
