A BEAUTY pageant finalist spent a day covered in paint and trapped in a cage to highlight the plight of tigers.

Rosie Cook, from Peacehaven, spent more than two hours being plastered in body paint from head to toe.

The 22-year-old animal care assistant is a finalist in the Miss Sussex 2015 beauty pageant and said she decided to use the opportunity to support the charity the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and their Tiger Time campaign.

More tigers are now kept as pets than in the wild, where there are only 3,000 of the big cats left and the species are predicted to become extinct within 10 years.

She said: “It is a charity close to my heart. I wanted people to double take and to show them the everyday life of farmed tigers – they are bred and just sit in cages all day.”

Tiger farms breed the animals and harvest body parts such as bones and fur for use as gifts and ingredients in medicines.

Miss Cook was painted by her friend and work colleague at Chase Vets Niki Etheridge, of Rottingdean.

The 27-year-old said: “This was my very first body paint and I practiced on myself first – as she is in a cage we tried to go for a more brutal effect.”

“I have been doing face painting part time for English Heritage and I have got a manager who gets me jobs around the country like at Roman festivals and Halloween events – I have also recently got involved with special effects.

“I have been doing that for the past three years and have been self-taught.”

If Rosie wins Miss Sussex she will have the chance to go for the crown of Miss England. Miss Sussex is a direct entry heat for nationwide competition Miss England.

To find out more about Miss Sussex go to www.facebook.com/MissSussex

To donate to Tiger Time go to www.justgiving.com/RosieChristinacook