leopardusmdd OP t1_j4c3a1n wrote on January 14, 2023 at 5:33 PM

Reply to comment by FamousComb3649 in I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Yes! They are all related to wildlife // wild life haha. All kind of nature-y / elegant in style.

My first tattoo is my whole forearm. It is of Khan, our first ocelot, which my tattoo artist created from a photo of him climbing down a tree. In the past years I've surrounded it with more jungle foliage.

I have a tattoo of the Hoja Nueva logo, and so does our codirector Dylan.

I have a blue morpho butterfly on my hand. To me it represents hope and perseverance in the face of tragedy.

Behind my ear is a snake called the Clelia clelia. It is a very calm, beautiful snake, that eats other snakes (usually venomous ones) :)

Have you heard of Ikigai? It's about finding your reason to live. My tattoo artist recreated the venn diagram into a jungle flower and that's on my arm.

I also have the word "solace" on my neck.

On my opposite forearm is a tattoo that somewhat matches Khan's. It is of my boy, Loki, who I raised from 2 months old through release 1.5 years later. Unfortunately he was killed by an ocelot. I would use his collar to track him every 2-3 days and found his body. Since then I haven't gotten any more tattoos because, all I can think of is him and how I just want more of him/ that remind me of him. </3

FamousComb3649 t1_j4f7f4i wrote on January 15, 2023 at 7:30 AM

Oh that's sad :d was Loki an ocelot too? Do animals attack each other in your reserve often?

leopardusmdd OP t1_j4grwzl wrote on January 15, 2023 at 4:57 PM

Loki was a margay. There is a pretty large size difference between a margay (4 kilos) and an ocelot (14 kilos). There is often intraguild predation and killing (sometimes even for energy gain) within the felid guild. When we release an ocelot, we worry about pumas and jaguars. When we release a margay or an oncilla, we worry primarily about ocelots. It's a tough world. And yes, was the saddest thing that's ever happened to me.