For the love of chameleons

Writer: Dr Anina Lee.

Everybody loves chameleons. I’m not sure what exactly attracts people to these little reptiles. Perhaps it’s their resemblance to dragons or precious relics of the dinosaurs that fascinate every child.

Chameleons are slow-moving so that we can get close to them. They are predators, and we can watch them hunt. Add to these their bright colours, which change in response to their mood or the temperature (no, not to match their background), and you have a winning formula.

Older people who had the privilege of growing up in the Western Cape had Cape Dwarf Chameleons right there in their gardens. They fondly remember going round with a chameleon on a finger, hunting for flies it would catch. Nowadays, it’s a rare privilege to see even one chameleon in our gardens. The truth is that they increasingly fall prey to habitat transformation, pesticides and domestic cats.

Chameleon illustration by Margo Crossman

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 8)