The Chameleon That Cried Freedom

When it comes to humans, the general rule of thumb is that the squeaky wheel is the one that gets oiled. Though in nature, not all animals have the ability to voice their distress.

This was the case with a young Chameleon found in a water reservoir. It was purely by chance that I stumbled across this little fella when I was checking the water levels in the various rainwater tanks situated around the farmhouse. He was hanging on for dear life when I spotted him, and I quickly fished him using a stick that I found on the ground nearby.

He was a pale yellow by the time I got him out, his skin saturated by the water he was submerged in. I decided to give him a nice dry place to sleep for the night so that he could recover away from any threats of predation.

By the next day, the little fella was looking much better. He had regained some color and was already eyeing a moth sitting on the window nearby. And I knew that this was the time to release him.
 

And so began the little chameleon's walk to freedom.

I decided to let the little guy go in a closeby guava tree that was in full fruit. This would ensure that he would have ample food from the bugs that were attracted by the fruit, as well as decent coverage from the tree's foliage.
 

Sadly in Africa, Chameleons face numerous threats each day. And not only from their natural predators.

Two major risk factors for chameleons are agricultural practices and cultural beliefs.

Agriculture:
The Chameleon's natural habitat is threatened by the constant development of its natural environment and the mechanization of farms. These little creatures have neither the necessary speed nor strength to stand against farm implementation, such as harvesters in fruit orchards.

Cultural beliefs:
Due to many African cultural beliefs, the Chameleon is seen as a very bad omen, and as such, they are killed on site more often than not.

Other factors that threaten Chameleons:
Other factors that might threaten the Chameleon are roads and houses being developed throughout their natural habitat. This reduces the available dwelling space and gives exposure to humans and vehicles that could easily run over these creatures as they try to cross roads.

Lucky for this little fella, he was given a second chance, and I hope I will run into him again one day under better circumstances.