Zoo not right place for animals, says Anoushka Shankar

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Sitarist Anoushka Shankar is against the idea of keeping animals in the zoo and is spreading this message in a new PETA ad.

In the new ad for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the 29-year-old Shankar, who gave birth to a son in February, is seen behind iron bars with the words 'Exotic Animals Belong in the Wild, Not in Zoos' written next to her.

'I choose to entertain people for a living, but animals in zoos are locked in barren enclosures and put on display against their will,' she said in a statement.

'Hundreds of thousands of animals languish in zoos around the world. Because these animals are denied everything that is natural and important to them, they express their frustration and loneliness through obsessive, repetitive and even self-destructive behaviour,' she added.

This is not the first time Anushka has featured in a PETA ad. She appeared in PETA's 30-second public service announcement with her father Pt Ravi Shankar to encourage the government to increase penalty for cruelty to animals.

--Indo-Asian News service

shi/ar/vt