Wednesday 2 November 2011

Knysna dwarf chameleon

Male Bradypodion damaranum

In Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa, local people have a superstition about owls and chameleons; they believe that they bring death so when they find one, they kill it.
Our cousin, Andrée Masdoorp, who is quite good at rearing chameleons, has an arrangement with her gardener: when he finds one he brings it to her; that is he pops it on plant by her pond. So she checks it daily. The male below was a fresh arrival. Sorry that I left out its tail…
They can measure up to 18 cm, rather large for a dwarf chameleon.
Then Andrée adds it to her menagerie and eventually releases their offspring back into the wild. 
Below is a pregnant female.
Pregnant female Bradypodion damaranum
 For more about this highly localised species visit
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knysna_Dwarf_Chameleon

No comments:

Post a Comment