Dr Katy Upton, zoo keeper at Paignton Zoo, marks her team’s first successful breeding of each rare frog species with an anatomically correct frog tattoo.
Zoo keepers are devoted to the animals with which they work. For one keeper at Paignton Zoo in Devon, each conservation success means so much to her that she gets a permanent reminder.
Katy explained: “I’m very proud of the work we do with these species and I love tattoos of the animals I work with. So far I’ve got two on my right forearm - Raniotmeya summersii - Summers' poison frog - and Ranitomeya sirensis – the Sira poison frog.”
Katy got her first tattoo at 18, but these two frogs are recent additions. They were done by Claire Jackson at Artium INK in Exeter. They took an hour each, with the artist using photos to create a stencil. “They’re bigger than life-size because the frogs are so small. I’m very pleased with the results and will be going back for more.”
She hopes more conservation successes will bring more frog tattoos in the future: “I want to get Ranitomeya benedicta – the blessed poison frog - and Ranitomeya fantastica – the fantastic poison frog.”
Others on her wish-list include Atelopus – the harlequin toad – and a female Parsons chameleon. Katy has a menagerie of animal tattoos, including a small gecko, more frogs, two pink river dolphins, a baby tapir, a jaguar and a home-made tattoo on her wrist which was done in the Amazon.
“I got some after I finished my PhD. I got the two pink river dolphins whilst I was out in Canada at the World Herpetological Congress.”
Misconduct inquiry into suspended chief constable suspended
Good time for dolphins in Torbay
Devoncast - traffic, trees and Toby Buckland
Shoplifting and violent crime up in Devon and Cornwall
Riviera Airshow fit to fly
How Torbay Hospital bosses are tackling 'risks'
