Flap-necked Chameleon
April 12, 2018
Quite often, while on game drive, your guide will stop and point out a chameleon in a tree. This reptile blends into the green leaves and is almost universally seen only by the ranger, who has been trained to look for them as something unique. The creature is very common in the Greater Kruger Park and is found throughout Sub Saharan African excluding the southern part of South Africa.
Its diet consist of insects and sometimes geckos while it is often the prey of snakes ( particularly boomslangs and twig snakes ) . It lives about 6 to 8 years and unfortunately very popular in the pet trade with thousands having been exported,mainly to the USA.
Their coloring ranges through various shades of yellow,green and brown and they can grow quite large, sometimes exceeding 30cm (14 inches).
This little specimen was saved from potentially being run over while on the tar road that separates the Klaserie and Timbavati reserves.
