Polar bear dies during dental operation at Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park

Hope, an 11-year-old polar bear, died on Thursday while undergoing a dental procedure at Jimmy's Farm and Wildlife Park near Ipswich, the park said.

Park owners said the operation was carried out by a "highly experienced" team of seven veterinary surgeons, two veterinary nurses and members of the park's animal care staff. Jimmy Doherty, the farm's founder and a television presenter, said the team had been attempting a "vital dental procedure to relieve her from pain" when Hope "slipped away peacefully and never woke up." He said staff were "absolutely heartbroken" and described Hope as "family."

Hope had joined three other polar bears at the park last year after being moved from Peak Wildlife Park in Staffordshire. The park said she was born in France and was rehomed following the closure of a long-time home at a zoo in Sweden. Jimmy's Farm markets its 16-acre enclosure as one of the largest polar-bear sites in Europe and said Hope helped visitors "connect with the natural world and to understand the challenges polar bears face in the wild."

The park, which opened to housing polar bears in 2023, is also home to brown bears, anteaters and capybaras. The bears were featured in a Channel 4 series, "Jimmy Doherty's Big Bear Rescue," which aired in July.

Hope's death revived criticism from animal welfare campaigners who say polar bears do not thrive in captivity. Chris Lewis, captivity research and policy manager at the charity Born Free, said the death was "not an isolated incident" and pointed to what he described as "systemic problems" facing polar bears held in zoos and wildlife parks. "Zoos continue to breed polar bears. Zoos continue to house them in inadequate settings," he said. "In reality, captivity often causes more harm than good."

The park has previously rescued other polar bears. One, named Ewa, was transported to Jimmy's Farm with her two-year-old cub, Miki, after Orsa Predator Park in Sweden closed. Miki died during transit; an autopsy later reported an underlying heart issue. Leading animal-welfare charities raised questions at the time about whether that condition had been identified before the animals were moved.

Park officials said they fought hard to save Hope and that staff were grieving. They reiterated that the veterinary team involved in the procedure were experienced and that the operation aimed to relieve the bear's pain.

Jimmy Doherty has previously defended the farm's decision to rehome bears from other facilities, saying the animals would otherwise have faced euthanasia when their previous home closed. Ewa, the park said, was born in a Dutch zoo in 2005 and could not be returned to the wild.

Born Free called for wider changes, saying society should reconsider keeping wide-ranging Arctic species in enclosures that campaigners say cannot match their natural needs. The charity said it would continue to push for an end to polar bears being held in zoos.

The incident at Jimmy's Farm follows other operational issues at the site. The park faced criticism after a raccoon escaped during an electrical failure and bit a member of the public before it was recaptured. Park officials did not provide immediate further details on Hope's procedure or on any post-mortem results beyond the statement that she "slipped away peacefully."

Regulatory bodies and independent veterinary authorities were not named in the park's announcement. The park said it will continue its work on animal care and conservation in Hope's memory.

Reporting on animal welfare and captive collections remains subject to ongoing debate among conservationists, zoo professionals and animal rights groups, who differ on whether rescue and rehoming efforts deliver net benefits for individual animals and broader species conservation.