Chameleon Specialist Group Fundraiser: Conserving the Most Range Restricted Chameleon

[jannb]

Come on guys and girls! This is your chance to help the animals that we love so much. If you have not already donate please take the time to give and help if you possibly can. To those that gave already months ago when the fund raiser first started, consider another donation to help these animals.

 

[Chris Anderson]

Update: The search for the most range restricted chameleon on Earth, Chapman’s Chameleon (Rhampholeon chapmanorum) has begun. Over the next week, Dr. Krystal Tolley from the IUCN CSG and a team of researchers from Malawi will survey the area where this species was previously found to determine if the forest is intact and whether any populations remain. Your donations to our crowdfunding initiative last year helped make this possible, and we are truly grateful! Be sure to check back on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/IUCNchameleons/) for updates and news!

Chris

 

[Chris Anderson]

Update: "Chapman’s Pygmy Chameleon on the Edge of Survival:
Last week, a team of researchers surveyed tiny remnant forest patches on the Natundu Hills in Malawi for Chapman’s chameleon (Rhampholeon chapmanorum) one of the most restricted vertebrate species on Earth. This species is Critically Endangered (http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/172568/0) because the majority of its forest habitat has been destroyed, and the last time it was seen in the wild was in 1998. The team (Krystal Tolley, Colin Tilbury, Yankho Chapeta, Gary Brown) surveyed the small forest patches and found that the largest intact patch has a viable population. Sadly, the populations are of very low density in the smaller, more impacted forest fragments. The IUCN Chameleon Specialist Group (CSG) will now link with local initiatives to explore options for improving protection of this species. The survey would not have been possible without support to our Rockethub crowdfunding initiative last year, and logistical support from the Museums of Malawi and the South African National Biodiversity Institute."

Be sure to check on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/IUCNchameleons/) for photos from this survey!

Chris

 

[JGuinan007]

Why not gather the populations of very low density in the smaller, more impacted forest fragments and relocate them to a protected suitable environment? I know that is a daunting task but isn't that better than leaving them where they are where they are certain to be lost?

 

[Chris Anderson]

Why not gather the populations of very low density in the smaller, more impacted forest fragments and relocate them to a protected suitable environment? I know that is a daunting task but isn't that better than leaving them where they are where they are certain to be lost?

Unfortunately there is not a lot of suitable protected areas in Malawi that don't already have related species that could be threatened by such an introduction. We are exploring options for aiding the protection of this species though and hope to be able to implement a viable protection mechanism for this species soon.

Chris

 

[JGuinan007]

Would it be possible to relocate them out of Malawi and introduce them to a suitable environment somewhere else? I know it's not ideal but the alternative of losing an entire species is worse in my opinion.

 

[Lathis]

Look what I got! High stylin'!
(And those baby carrots are for me, not the bugs!)

 

[Decadancin]

Look what I got! High stylin'!
(And those baby carrots are for me, not the bugs!)
View attachment 161411

It's not right to keep all the carrots for yourself .

 

[Brad]

Nice surprise at the door yesterday afternoon