Zeenat Aman appeal film industry to avoid bringing wild animals on shooting sets

Zeenat Aman shared a lengthy post on Instagram and requested her fellow industry stars to avoid bringing wild animals on shooting sets. The actor detailed her recent dismay after witnessing the suffering of an elephant on a set.

In a poignant post, the veteran actor revealed her profound affection for wildlife. She shared two pictures that showed her with elephant figurines, while the second featured a 1974 newspaper clipping showing Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand at an animal welfare event. Expressing anguish over witnessing an elderly elephant's distress on a film set, she reflects on the ethical implications of her profession.

“I was brought to tears recently when I arrived on set to find an elderly, domestic elephant on the scene. She was standing on the burning asphalt, bejewelled and bedeckedâ€æ and she stayed there all day as the cameras rolled. I was bound by contract to do my job, but I am absolutely guilt-ridden that such a majestic animal suffered for my job and your entertainment, (sic)” she



wrote.

Zeenat further appealed to her industry colleagues to avoid bringing animals on sets. “It is my sincere and urgent appeal to my colleagues and compatriots in the film industry to avoid bringing wild animals onto set at all costs. We are so lucky that India hosts the majority of the Asian elephant population in the world, and that this species is our National Heritage Animal. We are also blessed to have numerous organisations in India that work toward the welfare and conservation of this incredible animal. I am sharing a few resources from such organisations on my stories. I will be elated if you peruse them.”

Referring to the old news report, Zeenat Aman shared, “My concern for wildlife is an old story - please swipe to see a snippet from 1974 - but it is only now that I am in a position to make more concerted appeals on these matters. And since I could not bear to pose with the beautiful elephants that was subject to the chaos of our set, here is a picture of me with ‘my' elephants that I have collected over the years.”