COPENHAGEN, Jan 21 (AFP) - French former film star and now ardent animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has condemned Greenland's plans to organize polar bear hunts for wealthy tourists.
"I have been fighting for years to stop the ice shelf being stained with the blood of thousands of seals shamelessly exterminated in Canada and Norway," she wrote in an open letter dated Thursday to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, of which Greenland is a dependent territory.
"Your country also seems to want to leave its stamp on the ice shelf by causing the blood of these innocent bears to flow, bears whose survival is already threatened by global warming," Bardot said.
The local government in Greenland hopes polar bear hunts will help bolster the faltering economy in the northwestern part of the icy island by creating jobs for hunting guides.
The tourists would be permitted to bring home the bear skins as trophies.
Currently only permanent Greenland residents who are professional hunters are permitted to kill polar bears. About 50-100 polar bears are killed annually, according to the tourist board.
Greenland's Fishing and Hunting Directorate expects to have cleared the way for tourist polar bear hunts by the first half of the year, Denmark's Ritzau news agency reported.
The island's population is only 56,000. It suffers from severe social problems, notably unemployment, alcoholism and high rates of HIV/AIDS infection.
Bardot, 71, retired from movie-making in 1973 and has since devoted herself to the safety and protection of animals.
Her foundation campaigns against the killing of seals in Canada, backs a sanctuary for dancing bears in Bulgaria, is involved in animal refuges and stray cat sterilization campaigns and is active in 14 countries.
With headquarters in Paris, the foundation also takes legal action on behalf of animals with the help of inspectors spread out all over France.
050121
AF050168
Copyright ©AFP 2005. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Bridgestone Firestone Trust Fund, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2005. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2005 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
