Animal rights activists have praised Halle Berry for publicly stating she would never consider adopting a Bengal tiger.

Reports emerged recently that the OSCAR-winning actress was considering adding one of the endangered animals - which appears in her forthcoming film CATWOMAN - to her household.

Berry was so disgusted by the reports, she released a statement saying she "would never dream of keeping an animal of that sort out of its natural habitat".

ANDI BERNAT, program co-ordinator for THE FUND FOR ANIMALS, enthuses, "We hope other people will follow Ms Berry's example and will not keep tigers in captivity.

"Keeping an exotic animal as a 'pet' is not only cruel, but is also extremely dangerous for people."

According to statistics, an estimated 10,000 'pet' tigers reside in American homes, twice as many as those who remain in the wild.

05/02/2004 17:24