"White rhinoceroses, cheetahs, leopards, etc are ensnared, the elephants massacred, the forests set on fire to allow poaching," she wrote.

The European Union slapped a travel ban on Mugabe and his followers last year as part of sanctions over alleged trampling of democracy and human rights, but it failed to renew the sanctions last week because of the French invitation row.

Bardot wants Chirac to change his mind over his invitation to the summit in Paris later this month.

"France is preparing to welcome...one of the worst destroyers of nature," she wrote.

"I solemnly appeal to President Jacques Chirac...to denounce (Mugabe's) policies, which are catastrophic both from a humanitarian and an environmental point of view."

Bardot, 68, put her film career behind her 30 years ago after 46 films to concentrate on her role as an animal rights activist, starting the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in 1986.

The foundation's chief goals include winning legal status for animals and convincing the public to stop eating traditional French dishes such as frogs' legs and foie gras.