Has Paddington Bear had us all fooled with his love of marmalade? The diet of the spectacled bears of Peru – the benign model for Michael Bond’s famous literary creation – is, a new film suggests, no longer vegetarian. A BBC team filming South America’s sole surviving native bear, to coincide with Paddington’s 50th birthday, have found that the animals are abandoning their vegetarian status in ever greater numbers.

The film, presented by Stephen Fry, shows how the cloud forest home of the bears is being felled at an alarming rate. The destruction is thought to be a reason why the bears, which have always been assumed to live primarily on plants, fruit and nuts, are turning more frequently to carrion.

The BBC Two Natural World film crew found the elusive creatures, which also live in Ecuador and Colombia, nesting high up in the trees of the Andes. Fry’s film, Paddington’s journey to Peru in reverse, will be shown later this year – one of a host of tributes to the enduring appeal of Bond’s creation.

However, Paddington, who makes his long-awaited return today, has his own problems. The net is closing in on Britain’s most famous illegal immigrant. The Times magazine offers a sneak preview today of Bond’s first Paddington novel in 29 years. In Paddington Here and Now, the authorities finally begin to take an interest in the famous stowaway.

Bond, 82, discloses that he refused to take a cash advance for the novel, in case it did not meet his exacting standards. “I wanted to be sure it worked,” he said. “If a disaster hadn’t befallen Paddington within a few pages, something would have been terribly wrong. But it did.” The Paddington books have sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into 30 languages. When he dropped marmalade for a flirtation with Marmite in a recent television advertisement, it made headlines.

The new story returns the character to his adopted home at 32 Windsor Gardens, Notting Hill. A misunderstanding leads to him being taken to a police station where he is questioned about his immigration status.

Paddington had neglected to obtain papers proving his identity after his Aunt Lucy arranged for him to stow away on a ship’s lifeboat from Peru. Paddington Here and Now will have a cover illustration by Peggy Fortnum, 85, who did the first drawings of Paddington. The 50th anniversary will also be marked by reissues of the novels and picture books and a new title, My Book of Marmalade.

A computer-animated film is promised next year from David Heyman, the producer of the Harry Potter franchise. Mr Heyman said Paddington was the universal story of “an immigrant arriving in London”.

BBC Two, May 6, 8pm.
Paddington Here and Now published by HarperCollins, June 2.

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