Shambala Bill Hearing

Kermit the Frog teamed up with Tippi Hedren in March 2000 to back the Shambala Bill, proposed legislation in the United States that would regulate the sale, breeding and possession of wild animals.

Kermit appeared in several news conferences and hearings to promote a bill alongside Hedren, her daughter Melanie Griffith and actress Bo Derek. The bill was being championed by California Representative Tom Lantos.

His bill would require the owners of exotic mammals to get a license from the Agriculture Department and show that they have the facilities and capability to keep the animals safely and humanely.

Kermit, the only celebrity backer not to have been mauled by a lion, said he did appear as "just another talking frog on Capitol Hill".

"Not everyone of us up here today is a celebrity or just another one of those talking frogs on Capitol Hill. I'm a representative of the animal kingdom and we all need your help... I, too, am endangered. When I go home to Miss Piggy, I'm going to be in serious trouble... We need to pass this bill to prevent the continuing abuse and cruelty toward exotic animals in this country."


 * - Kermit the Frog