New data on the international trade in chameleons

New data on the international trade in chameleons

by Alex Negro Science

Researchers from several universities recently analysed the international trade in chameleons. The focus was on Tanzania in East Africa. Tanzania is currently home to 41 of the 228 known species, making it the country with the second-highest number of chameleon species after Madagascar.

The study was based on the publicly accessible CITES trade database and the annual reports of the countries participating in the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Chameleons exported for scientific or non-commercial purposes were excluded. In addition, the most frequently clicked websites on the Internet in the form of English-language sales platforms, social media and forums were searched for sale and purchase adverts for chameleons using Google and “[species] for sale”. A total of 14 websites of commercial sellers, two online forums, two advertising websites, four social media sites and seven closed groups in social media were analysed. As a third pillar of the study, villagers in the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania were interviewed using a questionnaire with eleven questions.

The general result of the study is that the international trade in chameleons fell rapidly between 2000 and 2019. At the same time, the number of chameleons bred in captivity increased. The number of “ranched” chameleons, i.e. chameleons bred on a farm in the country of origin for export, fell slightly. The largest export factor was commercial trade, with almost all species being exported directly from their countries of origin and not via other intermediaries in other countries. From 2000 to 2019, a total of 327,522 chameleons were legally traded. Only six countries accounted for 91% of exports: Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Uganda, Ghana and Cameroon. Tanzania was the country from which the most chameleons were traded, accounting for 34% of all exports. The country to which most chameleon exports went was the USA with 46%. The USA thus received almost half of all chameleons traded under CITES worldwide between 2000 and 2019. Other countries with relatively high numbers of chameleon imports were Japan (13%) and Germany (10%).

Six chameleon species from Tanzania were particularly sought after. Together they accounted for 85% of the trade in chameleons in the period mentioned. Kinyongia fischeri and Kinyongia tavetana were exported most frequently, followed by Trioceros werneri, Trioceros deremensis and Trioceros fuelleborni. Of the 42 species occurring in Tanzania, 35 were found for sale on online platforms and 29 were regularly on sales lists.

The on-site surveys in Tanzania revealed that only two out of three mountain ranges observed had participated in the trade in chameleons (East Usambara and Uluguru). As Tanzania has suspended its exports indefinitely since 2016, the majority of respondents stated that there is currently no longer any trade in chameleons. Interestingly, the villagers stated that they had collected 13 species for trade, but 7 of these species never appeared on the official exports for Tanzania. The answers to the question of how many chameleons of which species were traded also differed significantly from the official figures in the perception of the local population: While locals reported “thousands” of chameleons with one horn as supposedly collected annually, only very isolated ones of these were actually exported. There may also be a strong divergence here due to a lack of species differentiation.

Trade routes in Tanzania could be traced quite well through the interviews. In general, traders from Muheza and Morogoro came to the Usambaa and Uluguru mountains and gave the villagers a desired number of certain species (selected according to “one horn, two horns, three horns or giant”). A time limit was set, after which the traders returned and transported the collected chameleons to Dar es Salaam for export. One trader was questioned more intensively and stated that his father had already traded in chameleons. He had also never seen a collection permit, even though his clients always emphasised that they had one. The middlemen and collectors had no interest in what the collected chameleons were to be used for, only what was paid for them. Even a middleman only received 0.4 US dollars per chameleon.

Status and trends in the international wildlife trade in Chameleons with a focus on Tanzania
Maxim Conrad Isaac, Neil D. Burgess, Oliver J.S. Tallowin, Alyson T. Pavitt, Reuben M. J. Kadigi, Claire Ract
PLoS ONE 19(5), 2024.
DOI: 10.1371

Picture: Kinygonia tavetana, photographed by Elizabeth Dougherty, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Chameleons as prey of Compsophis infralineatus

Chameleons as prey of Compsophis infralineatus

by Alex Negro Beobachtungen Science

Some interesting observations were recently made in central eastern Madagascar. Two snakes of the species Compsophis infralineatus were observed trying to devour chameleons as prey. Overall, not much is known about these snakes, but they were long thought to be primarily frog and egg eaters. An observation from 2018 already reports an attempt by another Compsophis species to eat a chameleon, which was regurgitated.

The current observations were made in the private rainforest of Vallombre Natiora near Mandraka. During night walks, an adult Compsophis infralineatus was discovered eating an adult Calumma gastrotaenia. The entire process of consumption was not observed, the snake had disappeared on return to the site, as had the chameleon. The authors assume that the chameleon was successfully devoured. On the same night, another snake of the same species was seen attempting to eat an adult Calumma crypticum. The chameleon was still alive and tried to free itself from the snake’s coils, but seemed unsuccessful first. Later, the same snake was seen again, hanging with its mouth in the back of the chameleon, which was apparently still alive but no with the snake wrapped around it. In the photo, it appears that the chameleon is still alive.

Predation on the chameleons Calummy crypticum Raxworthy and Nussbaum, 2006 and C. gastrotaenia (Boulenger, 1888) by the snake Compsophis infralineatus (Günther 1882) near Mandaka, Madagascar
Devin A. Edmonds and Samina S. Sam-Edmonds
Herpetology Notes (17), 2024: pp. 327-328
DOI:  not available

Picture: from the above-mentioned publication, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Cryptic species

Cryptic species

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

The chameleon world still has a lot to offer. Countless species have yet to be described – and sometimes species are hidden in places where none were expected. The increasing possibilities of genetics are providing taxonomists with ever more specialised species terms. And many new species!

Small chameleons can be found scattered all over the east coast of Madagascar, which could be attributed to Calumma radamanus or Calumma nasutum in purely visual terms, but whose populations are locally limited. Many of these populations have not yet been genetically analysed. This means that one or two new chameleon species are certainly still hiding here. On the African mainland, Chamaeleo dilepis could still be hiding some subspecies. It occurs in Tanzania and Rwanda, but also between Angola and Congo and from South Africa to Botswana, Zambia and Namibia. And in Tanzania, six new Rhampholeon species were just described a year and a half ago, which were identified within known species complexes using genetics. These are just three examples of species complexes that still contain hidden chameleon species – many more are still awaiting further research.

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Picture: Calumma cf. radamanus in Marojejy, north Madagascar, photographed by Alex Laube

Sechs neue Rhampholeon-Arten in Tansania

 

Versteckte Arten innerhalb der Gattung Chamaeleo

Where can you find chameleons?

Where can you find chameleons?

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

Of the 228 chameleon species that exist worldwide, the vast majority live in Africa. Madagascar alone is home to 97 species – that’s over 40% of the world’s chameleon species! A second chameleon hot spot in Africa is Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya in Central Africa. And thirdly, South Africa is at the top of the list of chameleon countries. The other countries have far fewer different species, sometimes only one or two, but they are widespread or particularly common locally. There are even chameleons in Europe: the European chameleon can be found in the south of Spain and Portugal, in Italy and Greece.

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Grafik: Jan Stipala, Mountain Dragons – In search of chameleons in the highlands of Kenya, Download

Partner wanted

Partner wanted

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

Even today, there are still species of chameleons for which an incredible amount of data is missing. For example, what the male or female of the species even looks like or whether there is a partner animal. Two examples of this lack of data are Calumma juliae and Furcifer monoceras.

Calumma juliae was only discovered in 2018. The species lives in a tiny forest remnant near Moramanga, a town in the eastern highlands of Madagascar. Despite an intensive search, no male of the species could be found. This raises the question of whether the species – which would be extremely unusual for chameleons – could possibly be capable of parthenogenesis (producing young). If so, these chameleons would not need males at all. However, this is not particularly likely.

In our second example, it is the other way round. Furcifer monoceras was last seen many, many years ago – namely before its description, in 1905 – near the coastal town of Mahajanga. However, only the male had been discovered, which is also hard to confuse due to its conspicuous, huge nose. The female, on the other hand, is unknown. To date, the species has not been found again and is considered lost. Initial efforts to find the species have unfortunately been unsuccessful. Many dry forests around Mahajanga no longer exist, so it could just as well be that the habitat of Furcifer monoceras has long since disappeared. With or without the chameleon, that is the big question. So it remains exciting!

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Photo: Calumma juliae female, photographed by Thorsten Negro

Longer in the egg than alive

Longer in the egg than alive

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

A chameleon that’s been in the egg longer than it’s been alive? It does exist! Of course, not every Labord’s chameleon (Furcifer labordi) is like this. But this is probably the shortest-lived chameleon in the world. They live in western Madagascar, where it is very hot and dry most of the year. During the short, intense rainy season, the chameleons hatch, grow to adulthood at record speed, mate immediately and lay eggs quickly before most of them die in the same season. The average Labord’s chameleon therefore only lives for three to five months! In contrast, the eggs lie in the ground for between eight and ten months until the next rainy season. Depending on how a rainy season turns out in western Madagascar, the Labord’s chameleon’s entire population may only exist in eggs in the worst-case scenario. A fascinating, but also somewhat creepy idea.

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Picture: Furcifer labordi male, photographed by Lennart Hudel, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Lost for more than 100 years

Lost for more than 100 years

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

Did you know that there is a chameleon that was considered lost for over 100 years? Voeltzkow’s chameleon (Furcifer voeltzkowi) was last seen in 1913. Since then, it was considered lost because neither the exact location where it was found nor what the females looked like was known. In fact, the species lived completely undisturbed in western Madagascar on a peninsula directly opposite the large coastal town of Mahajanga. Until 2018, when a German-Madagascan research team set out to rediscover the long-lost species. They succeeded – in a hotel garden! The main reason why the species had not been observed for so long is probably due to the poor accessibility of the peninsula on which they live and the short lifespan of the animals. It is assumed that, like Furcifer labordi, a closely related species, they only live for a few months. They can therefore only be found at a certain time of year.

#showyourcolours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons

Photos: Furcifer voeltzkowi, male and female, photographed by Alex Laube

Colouring chameleons

Colouring chameleons

by Alex Negro Internationaler Chamäleontag

Time to colour! We’ve put together lots of colouring pictures that all kinds of websites have to offer for free. Just click on them and you’ll be redirected to the website offering them. Then print them out and off you go! Grab your coloured pencils, felt-tip pens or whatever else you use and get colouring! Incidentally, the colouring pictures are not just for children – there are also suitable, slightly more difficult templates for adults. A little time out on a holiday is certainly not a bad idea.

#show your colours #internationalchameleonday #chameleonday #chameleondayMay9 #agchamaeleons