EADT wildlife photographer, John Boyle, finds out how Suffolk ended up with the largest polar bear reserve in Europe. Today, Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park is an award-winning tourist attraction. But how did an old dairy farm on the outskirts of Ipswich that had stood empty for nearly 50 years become home to a menagerie that includes four polar bears, an anteater and a pack of Arctic wolves? The simple answer is: Jimmy Doherty.
Jimmy has transformed his part of Wherstead Probably best known as a television presenter, Jimmy’s journey has been fuelled by his passion for nature. Growing up in Essex, he started working in the tropical butterfly house at Mole Hall Wildlife Park in Saffron Walden at 13. When he wasn’t preoccupied with the butterflies, he also assisted the park’s keepers in caring for larger animals, from otters to chimpanzees.
By 16, he had become the youngest-ever assistant entomologist (the branch of zoology concerned with insects) at the Wildlife Park. After gaining a degree in Zoology, he worked in the Entomology Department at London’s Natural History Museum, before training for a doctorate in Entomology at Coventry University. With such stellar qualifications and experience, Jimmy could have had a comfortable career.
However, with a yearning to reconnect with nature and a vision of producing his own food and being self-sufficient, he became restless. Jimmy was desperate to find a plot of agricultural land where his dream could become a reality. In 2002.