Moscow, Jan 4: Former French siren Brigitte Bardot has said she will have to become Russian if the French authorities do not drop their plan to put down two sick elephants at a zoo in Lyon.

"If those in power have the cowardice and impudence to kill the two elephants Baby and Nepal 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," the 77-year-old Bardot said in a statement Friday.

The two elephants have been suffering from tuberculosis, and Lyon city authorities have insisted that they should be put to sleep as they pose a threat to other animals in the zoo and its visitors.

Backed by Bardot, an ardent animal rights activist, a public campaign urging to save the elephants has collected thousands of signatures.

Bardot's statement came a day after the Kremlin announced its decision to grant a Russian passport to French actor Depardieu, who recently renounced his French citizenship after the Socialist government proposed a top income-tax rate of 75 percent on high-wealth residents. In comparison, Russia has the fixed tax rate of 13 percent.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

pm/vt

IANS