Bardot's plea for dying sheep
2007-08-08 17:17
Zagreb - Former screen goddess Brigitte Bardot on Wednesday urged Croatian President Stipe Mesic to send water bombing planes to the drought-ridden Kornati islands where hundreds of sheep have recently died.
"Mr President, I know it is difficult to help Kornati inhabitants, difficult but not impossible," Bardot said in a letter to Mesic.
"A few flights by water-bombing planes would be enough to humidify the vegetation and ensure the survival of the animals which depend on it," she added.
One fourth of the estimated 5 000 sheep on the islands in Croatia's national park off the Dalmatian coast, have already perished due to a severe water shortage, which forced animals to drink sea water.
Water by navy ship and helicopter
Following appeals by local sheep owners and an opposition MP earlier this week, the agriculture ministry on Tuesday sent water to the islands on a navy ship and a helicopter.
The Kornati archipelago consists of 140 islands, islets and cliffs, with no permanent residents. A part of the archipelago was declared a national park in 1980.
Bardot, 73, retired from movie-making 30 years ago and now devotes herself to animal welfare.