When biologist Seema Bhatt picked up a "cute and innovative" frog shaped cane pot holder from Kenya, little did she know that it marked the start of a lifetime of collecting frog shaped mementoes.
"As I travelled both within and outside India, I found myself picking up a frog or two almost everywhere I went. It was the perfect souvenir, and added to what was to become 'my frog collection'," says Bhatt.
Over a span of 30 years the biologist, a Fullbright scholar who has worked with the WWF and USAID, says her collection now totals over 400.
Ranging from solid, stolid, metallic frogs to delicate, fragile ones made from glass and crystal and others made of ceramic and clay, stone and wood, Bhatt's collection contains all possible renditions of the amphibian from over 30 countries.
Her initial liking towards frogs, says Bhatt, turned into a passion when she understood the animal's significance in the ecosystem.
"Frogs contribute to the diversity of life and serve as indicators of biodiversity loss," she says.
Bhatt says her resolve towards expanding her collection strengthened after a shopkeeper who sold her a frog memento in Costa Rica, told her that a percentage of the sale would go to the protection of the country's forests.
While amphibians are among the most threatened group of animals, frogs in particular need very specific places to live and breed in both on land and water.
