Famed French actress and animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot will request Russian nationality Friday if plans to euthanize two elephants at a zoo in the French city of Lyon go ahead, it has been announced.
"If those in power have the cowardice and impudence to kill the two elephants Baby and N?pal despite all the proposals made by my Foundation ... then I have decided to ask for Russian nationality in order to escape this country which has become nothing but an animal cemetery," Bardot said in a statement Friday, as cited by RIA Novosti.
Bardot has urged French President Francois Hollande to intervene on behalf of the two Indian elephants who are believed to have tuberculosis.
The move comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Russian citizenship to French actor Gerard Depardieu, who was angry about French plans to raise taxes.