Veiled Chameleon

The Veiled Chameleon is a native of the greener parts of the southern Arabian peninsula. These large colourful chameleons are under threat from shrinking available habitat as they are arboreal residents in small pockets of green areas amidst otherwise harsh desert conditions. Farming is increasingly encroaching into these areas putting the chameleons into conflict with humans.

The other serious threat to emerge for them in the last 20 years is from the pet trade as they are among the most popular chameleon species to be kept in captivity.  I read a statistic the other day that between 1993 and 1998 nearly 500,000 chameleons were exported from Arabia, Africa & Madagascar. That’s an astonishing number and I’m sure only a fraction of those survived for very long.

I’d much rather see these magnificent reptiles remain in their natural habitat. To learn more about the illegal trade in exotic reptiles visit the World Wildlife Fund website.