A textbook has sparked outrage in India for instructing young pupils to put a kitten in an unventilated box and wait for it to die to show that living beings need air.

The experiment described in the environmental science textbook for nine-year-olds tells the students to place two kittens in separate boxes, one of them without air holes, to see the result.

"The kitten inside the box without holes has died," the instructions read.

The book has been used by hundreds of schools in north India since last April.

Parents have complained and animal lovers have expressed outrage.

The publisher said the book is no longer being published and would not be prescribed for the new school year starting in April.