LONDONERS could bear-ly believe their eyes when a polar bear drifted down the Thames yesterday (January 26).

The 16ft sculpture of an iceberg holding a stranded female polar bear and her baby cub was launched in Greenwich at 6.30am.

From Greenwich, it travelled up the river to stop beside Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.

Commissioned to mark the launch of natural history TV channel Eden, it helped remind the capital’s residents of the dangers of global warming.

The channel says melting of the ice caps will not only affect the polar bears, but will also affect the 2bn people who depend on the glacial meltwater that feeds their rivers.

Broadcaster Sir David Attenborough said: “The melting of the polar bears’ sea ice habitat is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time. We need to do what we can to protect the world’s largest land carnivores from extinction.”