BERLIN (AP) - An artist dropped a bloody, headless bull from a helicopter in central Berlin on Thursday after the city's highest court said it wouldn't stop the performance art, which had drawn criticism from animal-rights advocates and residents.

Before the bull fell about 130 feet to the ground, Austrian-born artist Wolfgang Flatz hung motionless from a crane - naked and bleeding - with his arms outstretched cross-like as industrial music blared at a factory construction site. Hundreds of onlookers crowded nearby to watch, sometimes applauding and whistling, and protesters passed out fliers decrying the world hunger problem.

The late-evening performance, which was titled ``Fleisch'' or ``Meat,'' concluded with a string quartet playing the ``Blue Danube Waltz'' as four couples in formal dress danced in alcoves of an unfinished building.

Hours before the performance, the city's highest court turned down an appeal by a 13-year-old girl to prevent the bull, named Bodo, from being used as part of the event. Patricia Strunz, who filed the case under her parents' supervision, argued that it was merely meant to shock people and was not art.

The high court upheld the decision of a lower court that rejected the claim, also Thursday, saying the girl's rights would not be affected by Fritz's planned action because she was not being forced to watch it.

Liberal-minded Berlin is often home to displays of alternative art, but the ``Fleisch'' performance tested even that openness. ``Everyone wants to save Bodo the bull,'' a headline in the Bild newspaper said Thursday.

Local politicians said they had no power to stop the event but planned to at least follow regulations by examining the animal's body for disease.

Flatz - known for controversial performances - dismissed critics, saying ``it's laughable to get upset over a dead animal.''

He has said the performance, advertised with posters around the city, was aimed at getting people to think about how they associate with nature.

Those who came to watch seemed to agree.

``It raises these kinds of questions about what are the limits of ethics and what are the limits of art. It raises questions about our relationship to animal life,'' said Chris Boland of Detroit, who is studying in Berlin for the summer. ``That's what art is supposed to do.''

Flatz, 48, has a great dane named ``Hitler'' and published an ironic picture book of his dog's life playing on the infamous name.

His most extreme performance up to now was in Tbilisi, Georgia, on New Year's Eve in 1990, where he acted as a human bell clapper beating his body between two plates of steel at a synagogue - allowing himself to be rung practically unconscious and winding up with serious injuries. He has also made himself into a dart board and offered himself as a towel in a public bathroom.

Angela Rosenthal of Berlin, another onlooker, said she had no right to criticize the performance because she eats meat and uses cosmetics that are sometimes tested on animals.