Hyderabad: Joining the list of celebrities like Anoushka Shankar, Olympics-bound badminton star Jwala Gutta has teamed up with the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to speak out against the cruelty of zoos. The 13-time National Badminton Champion will descend on the Kohinoor Hall, Chiraan Fort club, Begumpet on Friday and stage a protest against what she calls the “cruelty of confining wild animals to zoos.” She will be holding a sign that reads “Be a Champion: Boycott Zoos” and will be accompanied by an elephant mascot.
Speaking about her concern for animals, Jwala said, “One of the easiest ways you can be a champion for animals is by boycotting the zoo. In zoos, animals are incarcerated, often chained and are denied most of their natural behaviours. PETA and I want to remind parents that if their kids love animals, the last place that they should take them is to watch animals be miserable in zoos.”
A hard-hitting video on how animals locked in cages and tiny exhibits suffer will also be screened during the protest. Their main grouse against the Hyderabad zoo is that despite a 2009 Central Zoo Authority ban on keeping elephants in zoos and requiring zoos to move elephants gradually to forest areas, the Nehru Zoological Park in the city still exhibits elephants. “Captive elephants are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to a lifetime of boredom, loneliness and even abuse. They are often forced to stand on hard concrete and spend hours on end in chains,” PETA said in a statement on Thursday.
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